All Because of A Mistake
by Annabeth Black
Summary: Life can never go smoothly can it? No, Drama will always prevail. Well this is the drama of Luna Lovegood in her quest to just be happy - something that shouldn't be so hard to do.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, nor will I ever claim to own it or its characters.**

**Warning: Swearing in later chapters and OOC-ness as this is based off a Harry Potter Roleplay I take part in. **

**This is all from Luna's point of view but written in 3****rd**** person. If you want to read this from George's point of view, look for it by **_**chocolate-frog-fan**_**.**

Luna knew better than to cry.

She knew that her father wouldn't have wanted that.

No he would not have wanted that…

She stared at him in concentration. His hair was matted with dirt and blood and covering most of his snowy white skin that had splodges of purple blossoming here and there. Carefully, as if her father was the most fragile thing in the work, Luna brushed off his face. His once startlingly blue eyes had faded drastically and were fixed on a point on the ceiling due to how the corpse was slumped against the wall. Luna's hand shook drastically as she used two fingers to close the eyes of her dead father.

"There. Now he could be sleeping." She whispered to herself, standing back up and drawing her cloak tight around her.

She looked around her destroyed home and felt a lump form in her throat. She knew that there had been an explosion a few weeks ago but her father and repaired all the damage, she _knew_ that. No, someone had come to the house and killed him recently - there was still the faintest trace of warmth in him signalling he'd not been dead long – and one of both of them had put up a dammed good fight. If there was another body she had yet to find it but she didn't think there was.

"Time to tidy up," Luna withdrew her wand from inside her boot and stood in the middle of the room. "Reparo." She sighed, waving her wand in a full circle around her body.

Luna didn't bother to watch as everything around her began to fix itself before going back to where it belonged. Instead she went upstairs to her room to find some fresh clothes. Her room had been untouched by the battle that had raged in the lower floors of the house. From her wardrobe she selected a knee-length black pencil skirt and matching blouse. She didn't want or particularly need shoes if she was honest with herself so she left them in the bottom of the wardrobe. There wasn't really time for a bath, Luna decided, so instead she used a few spells Mrs Weasley had shown her at Auntie Muriel's a few weeks ago to clean herself off and make her smell nice.

Once she'd completely changed clothes, Luna tied her hair in a bun at the base of her neck and stuck her wand through it. Looking out of the window she saw the sun setting on the horizon and Luna realised that she hadn't eaten all day. She grabbed her cloak and went back downstairs to lay them on the table.

"Come on Dad, time for bed." She whispered brokenly. Luna took her wand out of her hair and pointed it at her father. "Wingardium Leviosa."

Xenophilius Lovegood began to float in mid-air and guided by his daughter, he travelled up the stairs and into his own bed. Luna put her wand back in her hair and tucked her father in so that he really could be sleeping. Unable to help herself, Luna wiped away a tear as she returned back downstairs and put on her black travelling cloak. She couldn't spend the night alone here. She just couldn't. The Weasleys would let her stay, even if it was just on the sofa for the night. Maybe they'd even give her some bread as there was no food in the cupboards.

Closing the door behind her, Luna started the trek over the hills towards The Burrow. She refused to let her mind dwell on her dead father back at her house. Instead she thought about what she'd do from there. Obviously she'd organise the funeral, just a small one maybe just for her, but then what? She'd have to go back to Hogwarts for her final year and possibly to re-do this year. It all depended on what Kingsley decided as he was named temporary Minister of Magic. Then there was sorting out The Quibbler too. That couldn't stop now! The public needed to hear the uncensored news now more than ever! She'd hire someone to help her with it until she was out of school and could manage on her own, definitely. For the holiday she'd probably go back to Hogwarts to help rebuild the castle. A simple Reparo charm didn't work on a building as old and as damaged as Hogwarts and Luna knew that she ought to do her bit to help.

Her mind soon became clouded with grief for her father. He was meant to help her with this, with planning the future, but he couldn't.  
>"No, he's in a better place now. A place where he can never be hurt again. He's with my mother." Luna nodded to herself, feeling slightly better at the thought. He was with her mother. They could be together again at last.<p>

A half-smile ghosted on to Luna's face as she walked the remaining distance to The Burrow.

"Arthur! Arthur!" Mrs Weasley hissed urgently, staring out of the window at the black figure coming closer and closer to the house. "Arthur!"

"Yes dear?" Mr Weasley asked tiredly, dragging himself away from the fire-place to stand by her side.

"Arthur, there's someone coming towards the house!" Mrs Weasley panicked, pointing at the figure as it entered the garden.

Stony-faced, Arthur drew out his wand and charged into the garden, ready to face the attacker head-on.

"Who goes there?" He demanded, lighting the wand tip so he could see better. "L-Luna?" he asked in disbelief as she walked into the wand light.

"I'm sorry to startle you Mr Weasley." She apologised, taking down her hood.

"What was the last thing I said to you before the Battle at Hogwarts?" He asked suspiciously, not lowering his wand.

"Goodnight dear. I'll see you in the morning." Luna remembered. "You thought I was going to bed."

"What brings you here Luna dear?" He asked, lowering his wand.

Luna didn't know what to say. How could she tell him she was scared of being alone in the dark? How could she admit she walked in to find her father dead on the kitchen floor? She was there to abuse their hospitality but how could she tell him that?

"I- He- Can-" Luna stuttered, her voice breaking a bit. She stopped herself and took a deep breath before starting again. "My Dad is dead and I don't want to spend the night alone." She swallowed, looking at the ground. If they rejected her, she would have no idea what she would do with herself.

"Oh you poor thing," Mrs Weasley had rushed out of the house despite being desperately tired and scooped Luna up into a hug. "You'll stay here until we can get you sorted out sweetie. Don't you worry."

Luna allowed herself to be hugged by Mrs Weasley. To Luna it still felt strange being hugged by this usually jolly, mothering figure despite the fact that she'd hugged her many a time before. Warm hugs were not something she was used to since her mother had left her. Her father was so thin and tall and cold…

Once Mrs Weasley was satisfied she'd been hugged long enough, she ushered Luna in to the kitchen, Mr Weasley following behind them.

"When was the last time you ate dear?" Mrs Weasley probed, stuffing her wet handkerchief into her apron pocket.

"Yesterday evening," Luna mumbled, taking a seat at the large wooden dinner table.

"Pardon dear?" Mrs Weasley turned around from the sink to give her husband a quick look before turning her full attention to Luna.

Luna watched as Mr Weasley slipped off upstairs, wondering what he was doing.

"Yesterday evening," Luna repeated finally.

Mrs Weasley looked stunned and was about to tell Luna off when she suddenly stopped herself. She hadn't eaten that day either. She was too busy looking after her children and grieving for Fred. Poor sweet Fred… Quickly she turned away to hide her tears.

"Oh my goodness. We'll have to get some food in you quick. Is soup okay?" Mrs Weasley asked with her back to Luna.

"Soup would be lovely Mrs Weasley, thank you," Luna paused, choosing her next words carefully. "You can cry in front of me Mrs Weasley. I don't mind."

"Oh no dear, I couldn't." Mrs Weasley sniffed as she started bustling around the kitchen, preparing food for the soup.

"But you need too. Holding it all in only makes it worse." Luna said wisely.

Mrs Weasley stopped and stared at Luna. She reminded Molly of an angel, with sparkling blue eyes and long wavy blonde hair. A little angel in black who could tell her everything would be alright if she just opened up to her…

The empty saucepan in Mrs Weasley's hand clattered on to the floor as she just stared at Luna, allowing more tears to flow.

Quietly, Luna got up from the table and went to Mrs Weasley. She guided the sobbing woman into the empty living room and onto the larger of the sofas, sitting her down and hugging her as she cried.

"It's okay. You can cry. You'll miss him, we all will. Fred didn't deserve to die - no one deserved to die – but at least he's in a better, safer place now. He'll be up there with Lily. Lily will look after him like you looked after Harry. I'm sure of it." Luna comforted her softly.

Mrs Weasley seemed to quieten down a bit at that so Luna carried on, spinning images of a peaceful heavenly place where Fred was waiting for them all until Mrs Weasley had cried herself to sleep. She then took and old, worn brown blanket and laid it over the sleeping woman before leaving the living room and closing the door behind her.

"Why aren't you sad?" George demanded.

Luna jumped as she wasn't expecting him to be waiting for her, leaning against the kitchen table with his arms folded and an angry expression on his face.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked frowning as she moved around him to clear up the soup things.

"Your father just died. Why aren't you sad?" George demanded, shadowing her.

"Did Mr Weasley tell you?" Luna guessed.

"He's looking for a spare room to put you in. He's told us all. Now answer the question!" George was getting impatient and was raising his voice as a result.

"Because I know my father wouldn't want me to be sad. He's in a better place now, free from suffering and pain. Why should I be sad about that?" Luna asked innocently, finally finding the bread. She cut herself a piece off and put it back before sitting down at the table and nibbling very slowly on it.

"Because you will never see him again! He won't be there to stop you from crying or make you laugh or-" George broke off as tears threatened to spill.

"George, he's okay. Fred's okay." Luna said comfortingly.

"DON'T YOU SAY HIS NAME! DON'T YOU DARE THINK THAT HE'S OKAY! HOW COULD YOU KNOW? YOU KNOW _NOTHING. NOTHING!_" George screamed at her.

"Calm down George." Luna said firmly, all traces of innocence and sweetness vanishing instantly from her voice. "Yelling and screaming at me won't bring him back."

"SHUT UP! SHUT _UP_!"

"NO!" Luna shouted back, shocking George a little. "No I will not shut up. YOU need to shut up and calm down. Screaming isn't helping. How do you think Fred feels, seeing you like this? Don't you think it's killing him too? But he is in a better place right now with people who will love and watch over him until you can join him! He's in a better place and for that you should be grateful!"

"You don't understand." George seethed.

"I understand perfectly George." Luna glared at him.

Something jolted inside George as she did this and he quietened down, slightly scared about what Luna might do to him if he didn't. He slumped down in a chair and rested his hands on the table, looking at the floor.

"I understand." Her voice was more sympathetic this time. "I understand."

Luna reached over the table and took one of his hands in her own. He snatched it away and glared at her before putting it back on the table. Luna looked at him, evaluating him before taking his hand in her own again. He didn't protest this time as her warm hand was placed over his cold one. George looked up at Luna in a different way this time. His expression was softer. As the warmth from her hand flowed into his, he found himself calming down and started to feel a bit calmer.

"I can't believe he left me." George admitted weakly, more to himself than Luna.

"He hasn't left you though George," Luna told him, smiling slightly. "He's just been locked away out of sight for a while but he's still there. He's in your heart." She explained as if it made all of the sense in the world.

And it did.

**Please review! Thank you **


	2. Chapter 2

"Luna? Luna? LUNA!" Ginny called, running up the pathway as fast as she could.

Luna, who'd seen her coming opened up the front door and looked at Ginny in surprise.

"Luna, it- George- Percy- fight!" Ginny panted.

Luna sighed and turned off the oven. This was the third fight George and Percy had gotten into this week. Soon after the night when Luna's father had died, Mr and Mrs Weasley had discovered that Luna had a knack for calming George down and persuading him to do things. As a result, Luna was summoned to the Burrow several times a day to help make George feel better. No matter how many times Luna told him about how Fred was in a better place or calmed him down, he would always get angry and upset again. What George really needed was for Luna to be there all the time but she couldn't be as she had so much to do back at her own house.

Her father's funeral was later that week and whilst she had no family left, many readers of The Quibbler wanted to attend and she had to organise that. Also she'd been catching up on all the schoolwork she'd missed during the year so that way she could take her N.E.W.T.s next year as planned and not have to stay on an extra year at school. Then there were her shifts up at Hogwarts. It was made mandatory by the Minister that every witch and wizard that was alive had to sign up in a population census and were then given shifts up at Hogwarts to help with repair work. It made sense and Luna didn't mind it one bit but others did. They thought it was unfair. But life was unfair and they would just have to deal with it Luna decided.

Then there was Fred's funeral. Despite it being weeks since the Battle, Fred had yet to be buried. It was to be the day after her father's and while Luna had planned to go anyway, Mrs Weasley had made sure that she would attend to look after George. The Weasley's were desperate for her help. Each night she visited and told them how Fred was up in heaven being looked after by Lily and pranking with the Marauders and the Weasley's clung onto her every word like a life raft. It scared Luna a bit on how much they'd grown to depend on her but she did it for them as they were the only kind of family she had left now.

"Come in Ginny. I got some Floo Powder today at Diagon Alley." Luna invited her friend in. "Give me a moment to get some shoes." Ginny walked in slowly and looked around in awe at the clinically spotless kitchen. Spots, stripes, wavy lines and zigzags adorned _everything_, Ginny was almost overwhelmed with colour. It was bright and all the patterns worked well together surprisingly – it was Luna personified.

"Ready to go?" Luna asked, jumping back down the stairs.

She was dressed in a black jumpsuit that had no sleeves and was cut of halfway up her thigh. It looked like summer wear but Luna bravely wore it on that cold day. The shoes she'd gone to get were bright yellow plastic wellington boots and she didn't bother with a cloak or bag but instead had a small red pouch tied around her wrist. Ginny tried her best not to laugh at her friend as she re-entered the kitchen.

"You can laugh. It's fine. I don't mind." Luna said mildly, walking over to the fireplace with her head held high.

"I'm sorry Luna," Ginny giggled. "It's just that the boots don't go with the clothes meant for summer."

"I know." Luna said seriously, getting out the Floo Powder from a high cupboard.

"Where's your wand?" Ginny asked, taking some powder.

Luna pointed to her boot.

"Oh." Ginny nodded and followed Luna into the fireplace.

"The Burrow." They shouted together, linking arms and dropping the Floo Powder into the small flames.

Luna stepped out of the Weasley's fireplace with a thin layer of soot coating her and into the middle of chaos. George was lobbing plates across the room at Percy while Bill and Ron tried to hold him back while Percy yelled at him. Charlie sat on a chair in the corner staunching the flow of a bleeding nose while Mrs Weasley sobbed in a chair, Mr Weasley trying to comfort her and scold the boys all at once.

"I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL HIM!" Percy roared.

"SHUT UP YOU TWAT!" George screamed back. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

He launched another plate at Percy just as Luna stepped out of the fireplace. The plate exploded next to Luna's head, sending shards flying everywhere, including into her face.

The room collapsed into a mortified silence as eight pairs of eyes flew to Luna who was keeping eerily quiet.

"George, put the plates down and apologise to your brother." Luna said slowly, making sure her every word was heard.

"Luna, I'm so sorry!" George gasped, dropping the remaining few plates to the floor.

"I'm not your brother George. Apologise to Percy," Luna said firmly, ignoring the throbbing in her head as blood started leaking down the side of her face.

"Luna dear," Mrs Weasley said worriedly, mopping up her tears.

"Can you please wait Mrs Weasley? George hasn't apologised yet," Luna asked calmly, staring at George. "Go on." She nodded encouragingly.

"I'm sorry Percy." George muttered darkly.

"That's good enough for now. Ron, Bill, please escort George to his room. I'll come up to see him in a minute. If you could wait outside the room, I'd be grateful." Luna forced a smile as she started to feel dizzy. "Percy, could you please tend to Charlie's nose? It's a bit worrying that in a house full of over-age wizards, no one's used magic to stop the bleeding yet. Mrs Weasley, I recommend you go to bed. Mr Weasley will take you and I'm sure Ginny will bring you up a cup of tea in a minute." She looked pointedly at Ginny and Mr Weasley who nodded and set about doing their tasks.

"But Luna, your face." Mrs Weasley protested.

"Mrs Weasley, get yourself to bed. You're tired and I'm fine, really." She lied fluently. "You can't look after anyone until you've been well rested."

"Come on dear, up to bed." Mr Weasley took his wife gently by the arm and towed her upstairs and to their room, closely followed by Ron and Bill with George.

"Spike her tea with a sleeping potion Ginny. She's going to need it." Luna frowned, drifting over to the sink.

"Luna, what are you-?" Charlie asked, leaning around Percy to see.

Luna ignored him, not out of choice but she knew if she answered, she would scream in pain or cry and she had to be strong for them right now. She began to run some lukewarm water from one of the rusting silver taps. Ron appeared at her side at that moment and produced a handkerchief for her

"George insisted I give this to you." He muttered, pressing it into her hand before disappearing again back upstairs.

The little cotton square was embroidered with three orange initials: G.F.W. Biting her lip, Luna wrapped her hand up in the cloth and pulled the few shards of porcelain out of her face and laid them to rest in the sink. She watched as they transformed from red to white in a curious fascination. Once the plate pieces had turned clean, she wet the stained handkerchief and began to dab tentatively at the blood on the side of her face, starting at the bottom and slowly working her way towards the open wounds. She winced as the wet cloth made contact with the raw skin and open blood vessels in the side of her face.

When she was satisfied that the wounds weren't going to continue bleeding or get infected, she removed the handkerchief and began to ring it out in the sink, washing away most of the blood from it before withdrawing her wand from her yellow boot and using magic to clean the rest of it off.

"I can heal up the side of your face to save you from having to bandage it up." Charlie said helpfully, wandering over to stand beside her.

"Thank you. That would be very kind of you." Luna couldn't bring herself to look at the second eldest Weasley brother as he pulled out his own wand and healed the side of her face using a couple of simple incantations.

Luna glanced around the room while the side of her face heated up and repair and to her surprise find herself alone with Charlie.

"Percy is feeling sick again so he went up to his room to lie down. Ginny took Mum and Dad their tea and went into the living room to Floo Harry before bed. I stayed to make sure you were okay and didn't pass out. You're a lot stronger than you look Luna." Charlie explained, shoving his wand back in his cloak pocket when his work was finished.

"Thank you very much Charlie," Luna smiled fondly at him. "I think I ought to go help George now." She added quietly.

Charlie nodded understandingly. "I'll take you to him."

Charlie led Luna up several rickety flights of stairs before their path was blocked by Ron lounging outside George's bedroom door.

"Bill's in their talking to him." Ron nodded to the closed door.

"I'll leave you to it then Miss Lovegood." Charlie bowed and winked at Luna, making her smile. "Until we meet again." And with that he set back off down to the next landing and his own room.

"Are you alright Luna?" Ron asked seriously when he was sure Charlie was out of earshot.

"Yes thank you Ron, I'm perfectly fine," Luna lied. The side of her face still throbbed a bit but other than being a little shocked she was fine. "Look see, no marks." She tucked her bloody hair behind her ear so Ron could see the smooth, healed skin.

"George is a prat." Ron muttered darkly.

"Ronald Weasley! Don't you dare say things like that about your brother!" Luna scolded, smacking him lightly on the arm.

"Whatever you say Luna," Ron scoffed, turning to go up the remaining sets of stairs to his room too. "Good luck in there. He's still mad."

And off Ron went, leaving Luna all by herself on the landing.

"George?" Luna asked softly, opening the door to his bedroom and knocking on it at the same time so she wasn't being rude by just barging in.

The room was a tip. Clothes were strewn across the floor; books that had been clearly thrown around the room were scattered lying page-down and open. Cups and plates mostly still full scattered the sides, rotting and stinking from where George had refused to eat. The devil himself was lying on his side on his bed with his back to the door, curled up tightly in a ball. Bill was crouched down in front of him, whispering to him something that Luna couldn't quite hear.

Silently, so as not to disturb the brothers, Luna crept into the room and conjured up a black bag with her wand. She went around the room, putting all the clothes into a black sack that she'd take home and wash. She then found the shelf that the books belonged on and put them all back, smoothing the pages so that they weren't so damaged. Once that was done she saw a rectangular plastic box that was empty and started stacking the empty dishes inside it, vanishing the food or drink in them as she went. Soon the room was more or less clean and Luna, satisfied, placed the bag and box next to the door to take with her when she left.

"George?" She asked, approaching the bed.

He flinched. She was unsure whether he'd realised she'd been in there cleaning up but she knew that Bill had seen her. His eyes had darted to her every so often to check she was still there.

"George? Do you want me to go away?" Luna asked delicately, stopping on the other side of the bed.

Bill looked at her slightly alarmed as George shook his head furiously.

"What about me? Do you want me to go?" Bill asked, using the same tone as Luna.

There was a pause before George slowly nodded. Bill didn't look hurt in the slightest as Luna half expected. Instead he stood up, walked around the edge of the bed and gave Luna a smile before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.

"Luna, I'm so so sorry." George said, rolling over to face her.

"George, it's fine. You didn't know." Luna said comfortingly, sitting on the edge of the bed.

He'd been crying. There were tear tracks in his grubby face. Luna reached out to stroke his hair and George let her. It calmed him down and made him sleepy but more importantly, her touch made him feel safer from himself.

"Luna…" George asked as his eyes started fluttering closed.

"Yes George?" Luna asked, staring at a spot on the wall as she methodically stroked his head.

"I'm sorry." A tear slipped out from under his closed eyelid.

"I know George. I know." She said comfortingly.

"Will you stay with me tonight? Please?" there was a certain vulnerability in his voice that made Luna's heart ache and almost against her will, she nodded.

"I'll be back in a minute." Luna whispered, tip-toeing out of the room.

She located the nearest bathroom and washed all the blood out of her hair in the sink and dried it quickly with her wand. She pulled a small tooth brush from out of the red pouch around her wrist and gave her teeth a quick scrub before going back to George's room.

He was sitting cross-legged, staring at the door, waiting for her to come through it.

"Lay back down." Luna ordered quietly, using her wand to create a chair for her to sit in.

"Luna, lay with me?" George begged, looking at her pleadingly.

Sighing, Luna vanished the chair and took of her rubber boots. She knew she wouldn't win an argument against him and she really didn't want him waking up the rest of the house who so obviously needed the sleep. Using a rubber band she kept on her wrist at all times, Luna tied up her hair into a sloppy bun at the top of her neck.

"Only this once." She told him with a stern look.

George nodded and a small smile ghosted onto his face. He scrambled under the covers and moved over a bit so Luna could get in beside him. It was only a single bed so once Luna had slipped in beside him, George locked his arms around her, to keep her from falling.

"Goodnight George." Luna whispered, nestling down under the covers a bit more.

"Night Luna." George yawned, tightening his hold on her slightly.

Luna sighed and closed her eyes, ready to wake herself early in the morning to leave while he slept.

* * *

><p><strong>By the way, the disclaimer from the previous chapter counts for the entire story.<strong>

**Please review! Thank you**


	3. Chapter 3

Luna hadn't slept in over 36 hours. How she was still functioning she didn't really know. All she knew is that she had to stay awake and keep it together for just a little while longer. The awakening potion she kept sipping on at hourly intervals probably helped – well not probably, they _did_. That were what was keeping her awake. Well, the potion and the fact that George needed her now more than ever.

She'd woken up at 3 am on Friday morning and no matter how she tried, she couldn't get back to sleep for the life of her. So she got up, put on her blue silk dressing gown and padded bare feet down to the kitchen to start cooking food for all the mourners. They were due to come here for a few hours after the service and Luna wasn't looking forward to it one bit. All those strangers telling her what a great man her father was when most of them didn't even know him that well if at all in person, it made her almost angry however she knew that she would be polite and smile as she always did. Being mean and angry wouldn't get her anywhere other than in trouble.

So she spent the morning cooking way more food than necessary. At 10 am she went upstairs and to scrub herself clean. She then changed out of her pyjamas into a knee-length, plain black dress and did her hair in a low bun before returning back downstairs to clean the kitchen up one last time and set out the food.

At 11 o'clock it was time for her to leave for the local graveyard where her father would be buried in the grave next to her mother. It'd been so long since Luna had been to the graveyard to visit her mother – it'd definitely been over a year but Luna didn't feel guilty about it. She knew her mother would understand. The war had stopped her from doing so many things that she would have done without it that she knew her mother wouldn't mind a few missed visits and would instead be grateful that she – Luna – was still alive.

Luna walked out for an hour, taking her time to reach the graveyard. Sadly, she could not walk in bare feet as she wanted to but instead in some sensible black flats that she saved for such occasions as these.

When she reached her destination, she was still ten minutes early but to her surprise she found the space around where her father was due to be buried next to her mother jam packed with mourners all wearing white to symbolise the hope of rebirth. Luna smiled affectionately at each of them in turn for wearing that most honourable sign on behalf of her father. She'd thought about wearing white herself but couldn't bring herself to do it. Without her father there encouraging her wild beliefs, Luna didn't want them as much anymore. Besides, she knew he'd be happier staying in heaven with her mother rather than being reborn. In her moments alone, Luna found herself upset and near tears even though she knew not to be sad. That's why she spent all her spare time on the Quibbler. It made her feel closer to him and in turn her mother and stopped her from feeling sad.

The service was short and to the point as Xenophilius had wanted. It didn't mention God as neither Luna nor her father had been religious at all. The dark, polished wooden coffin was carved with many words and symbols that her father had found important or interesting to him in life and was lowered into the ground with magic. Luna and the man conducting the service took it in turns to say some words as lit wands were held aloft. Everyone took it in turns to scatter a handful of dirt over the coffin and by the time it was Luna's turn, the grave was filled in.

"Goodbye Daddy." She whispered to the filled in grave.

Luna sprinkled a tiny handful of dirt over the small mound and as she stepped away from the grave, the sun burst from its hiding place between the thick grey clouds and a beam of light shone directly onto Xenophilius' grave, causing everyone there to cheer and clap. All eyes were on Luna as she dropped a single white lily on each of her parent's graves and blew a kiss to their headstones before leaving the graveyard – the mourners would walk to her house while she apparated. (She'd taken her apparition test earlier that week and passed).

As she was the first to return, Luna was surprised to see two big white marquee tents set up on either side of her garden path. Mismatched tables and chairs were also scattered around the garden. Under one marquee, Bill Weasley manned a long table covered with a white table cloth and the food she's made earlier with some extra that she'd not seen. The other identical table was manned by Charlie Weasley and had some cakes but was mainly devoted to drinks. Both men wore white suits and smiled at Luna as she stopped dead at the garden gates.

"I could not find any vases so I veel conjure zem up." Fleur called to Bill and Charlie, exiting the house. "Luna! How lovely eet iz to see you again!" She smiled warmly, spotting her and hurried over to hug her. Fleur was wearing a white, flowing dress with a small white flower tucked behind her ear.

"I am so sort to 'ear about your father." She whispered in her ear.

"Thank you." Luna smiled sadly. That's all she would be hearing for the next however many hours. "But what are you all doing here?"

"We came here to help." Charlie grinned.

"Mum and Dad wanted to come but George is having a really bad day so they stayed back to look after him." Bill apologised.

"Luna!" Ginny exclaimed, running around the side of the house, Harry, Ron and Hermione strolling in her wake. All four of them were dressed in white too.

"Luna!" Ginny hugged her friend. "Are you okay?" She asked, pulling away to search and analyse Luna's face.

"I'm fine Ginny." Luna half-lied. "You of all people should know that."

"I found some fire-whisky!" Percy announced, holding several bottles of the liquid. "I take it we're allowed to use this Luna?" He pushed his glasses up his nose with a free finger, looking at Luna.

"Yes." She nodded, not really caring (she didn't drink the stuff anyway). "But how did you know to do all this?" Luna was confused, not to mention she wasn't used to people being this kind to her and she wasn't quite sure how to take it.

"I read the Quibbler," Hermione confessed. "I read your piece on funerals last week and Mrs Weasley wanted to do something to help you today so I suggested this." Hermione blushed.

"Well thank you, all of you." Luna beamed.

"Luna, your guests are here." Bill commented, nodding towards the hill behind her.

And so the nightmare began.

A long line of people formed at the garden gate where Luna waited just inside to greet and thank them all for attending the service and then to listen to them say a few quick words about her father before moving on to eat. It was painful almost, watching people give her false smiles and lies but Luna stood there and took it until the very last dotty old woman had paid her respects.

Luna waited until she was in line for some food before running up to the house and slipping through the front door. Fleur was standing with Bill, serving food to hungry guests and noticed Luna retreat through her front door. She put down her spoon and took a few steps to follow her before Bill's hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

"She needs some time. Leave her be." Bill said quietly, knowing that Luna would need a few moments for herself before she braved hearing more stories about her father.

Inside the house, Luna sat with her back against a table leg, staring out of the back window and breathing deeply to stop the tears she felt springing up on her. The funeral had solidified the fact that her father wasn't coming back for her. He wasn't going to be there to encourage her beliefs or see any of her achievements. Not in person at least. As far as family went, Luna was alone. She was the only child of two orphaned only-children. Her family were well and truly gone.

There was a faint rumbling and then a _swoosh_ as someone flooed in through the fireplace, disturbing Luna's thoughts.

"Luna?" George coughed, stumbling out of the fireplace.

Luna caught her breath and squeezed her eyes tight shut. She just needed to be alone for a moment.

"Luna!" George called again, desperation plaguing his voice.

"Luna, please." George begged, tears streaming down his face.

"Yes George?" Luna forced herself to say, not moving from her semi-concealed spot.

George stumbled around the edge of the table and his eyes locked on her instantly. He was crying. His eyes were red and puffy and his face glistened with wet tears. He was still in his pyjamas that had thin orange and white vertical stripes on them and were slightly spattered in blood from where his broken nose was dripping slowly onto them. Luna couldn't tell what was going through his mind as he staggered towards her and dropped down beside her.

"Luna." He sobbed, holding onto her.

"Oh George! What have you done to yourself?" Luna gasped, producing a hanky and starting to dry his eyes like she would for a child.

"Dad- called- Fred- Mum- wall." He stammered between sobs as she dabbed around his eyes/

"Episky!" Luna took her wand from on top of the table where she'd put it when she came in and fixed George's nose.

"Ow!" he wailed, clutching it.

Luna ignored that and prized his hands away from his face so that she could gently mop up the rest of his blood.

"Everything is going to be okay George." She falsely promised allowing him to rest his head on her shoulder.

She put her arm around him and rested her head lightly on his, rocking him gently from side to side as he was at an awkward angle. Luna hummed an improvised tune and stroked his hair until George had calmed down and his breathing was back to normal.

"George, I need to go back outside for about an hour. Do you want me to take you home?" Luna asked softly, moving so they were sitting face-to-face.

George shook his head, unable to bring himself to speak.

"Do you want to stay in here than until I'm done?"

George shook his head again.

"The only other option is that you come outside with me."

"Can I?" George croaked.

"Of course you can. Let's clean you up first," Luna nodded, helping George stand up as she transfigured his pyjamas into a white suit with an orange tie and got rid of the blood stains. "Comb your hair and wash your face in the bathroom upstairs and I'll meet you outside, okay?" Luna smiled at him, fixing his tie.

"Okay." George said reluctantly.

Luna squeezed his hand reassuringly again and watched him go upstairs before checking her reflection in the mirror hanging by the door. She looked fine. No trace of red or puffiness in her eyes and no blood on her face or hands. Taking a deep breath, Luna opened the front door and returned outside to mingle with the guests in the patchy sunlight.

When George found her five minutes later, Luna was talking to a middle-aged brunette woman with pale, freckled skin who used to Owl Xenophilius constantly to discuss her favourite articles in that week's Quibble called Ms Dockety.

"Hey." George breathed into Luna's ear, snaking his left arm around her waist and holding her right hand in his.

George was definitely better now. You couldn't tell he'd been crying at all as he smiled at Ms Dockety. As Luna looked up at him though, she saw something in his eyes that gave away the fact that while he was not forcing the smile, it was not genuine either.

"Do you read the Quibbler my dear?" Ms Dockety asked George, beaming to show yellowing teeth.

"Yes I do. I am most interested in the developments for the search of the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks." George lied smoothly. If Luna hadn't known, she wouldn't have been able to guess he'd been crying earlier and this pleased her – his recovery time was improving.

"So am I! I was just talking to Xenophilius the other day (May he rest in peace) about a sighting in Scotland! And…" She exclaimed, pleased with his positive answer.

For the next five minutes Ms Dockety rambled on about Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and her many letters to Xenophilius about them while Luna and George faked interest. While this was a topic that normally interested Luna, she just wasn't up to talking about it as animatedly as she usually would have that day.

"Do you mind if I borrow Luna for a bit?" Harry asked, appearing between the three from seemingly nowhere.

"Of course my dear!" Ms Dockety beamed, turning to her neighbour instead to pick up the conversation where she'd left it.

Without another word, Harry steered Luna and George over to Ron and Hermione.

"Are Luna and George dating?" Hermione hissed.

"No, not that I- Ow!" Ron stopped as Hermione dug him in the ribs. Luna and George were there.

"Thank you guys for being here today. My father would have appreciated it." She smiled at them all.

"Your father helped us-" Harry began.

"And tried to hand us over to the d- OW HERMIONE! QUIT IT!" Ron muttered darkly before whining as Hermione stomped on his foot.

"Oh, sorry Ron. I didn't realise that was your foot." Hermione apologised, a subtle tone of sarcasm layering her voice.

"It's the least we could do to be here." Harry finished, ignoring Hermione and Ron.

"George, you need to eat something or at least have a drink." Luna suddenly thought.

"I'm fine." George protested.

"Please George? For me?" Luna asked, squeezing his hand.

Scowling slightly, George let go of Luna and went to get a drink.

"I hate funerals." Luna muttered darkly, watching George to make sure he was doing as he was told.

"Luna! How unlike you!" Hermione commented, shocked.

Luna turned back to face them.

"I hate people coming up to me and lying in my face and telling me things about my dad that they think I want to hear. To be honest it disgusts me and I don't want to deal with all this right now. Tomorrow will be worse." She confessed.

"Luna, you don't _have_ to help George." Ron told her bitterly.

"I never said George was a problem Ron." Luna told him heatedly.

"Luna!" Charlie called from the drinks table on the other side of the garden, panic evident in his voice.

Charlie was holding George back who was shaking violently and in tears while a woman Luna hadn't spoken to yet backed away from the brothers, terrified.

"I'M NOT FRED! HOW COULD I BE? HE'S – he's- he's…" George was screaming.

"George! George, calm down mate." Charlie said desperately, trying to haul him away from the woman and failing.

"I'M NOT! I CAN'T BE! DEAD! DEAD!" after that George's words began to run into each other and Luna could barely understand him.

"I- I just asked him if he was Fred Weasley of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes." The woman explained; near tears herself as Luna, Harry, Ron and Hermione arrived.

"Yeah, well, Fred's dead isn't he?" Ron commented snarkily.

"Ron!" Hermione scolded.

Luna ignored them all and went straight for George. She and Charlie together managed to get him inside where she grabbed his head in her hands to make her look at him but he pulled away. She tried again but with the same result – he was thrashing around too much. On the third attempt she finally got a good grip on either side of his face, even though he still wouldn't look at her.

"George. George! Look – no- no – look – look – look at me! Look at me George. Come on, look at me. In the eyes. That's it. Good boy. Yes. Okay. Now breath. _Breath_. Come on, that's it. Deep breaths. In… and out. In… and out. In- yes, well done. Come on. Calm down. She's sorry. She didn't know, okay? She didn't know." Luna stared deep into his eyes and managed to calm him down but at the mention of the woman from outside his breathing hitched again as he remembered what she said to him.

"No. NO." she scolded, ignoring the fact that Harry, Hermione, Fleur and the other Weasleys (minus Charlie who was keeping George still) were behind her, watching George over her shoulder. "No! Breath! Ignore the others. Ignore them. Come on. Look at me – not at them. Me. Breath." But it wasn't working. George wasn't focusing and he _needed_ to focus but Luna couldn't ask the others to leave without being rude so she had to go for the next best thing.

"GEORGE FABIAN WEASLEY! CALM THE **HELL** DOWN RIGHT NOW!" Luna shouted uncharacteristically.

George's attention leapt to her as tears poured down his face.

"She- she- called me. Dad – same. Fr- gone." George seemed to find his voice again but he couldn't quite get his words out.

"I know. I know." Luna said sympathetically, stroking the hair out of his eyes.

That was when George collapsed.

**Okay, several people have added this to their favourite stories/alert lists yet I still have no reviews :/ Can you guys PLEASE review? I need honest opinions about this to know if it's worth carrying on with. Plus reviews are encouragement for me to continue writing faster as well. Thanks.**

**Don't forget to check the fanfiction from George's point of view! The link is on my Profile **


	4. Chapter 4

Luna glanced at her watch. It was 5 o'clock. She'd officially been up 36 hours and had been taking sips of an awakening potion for the last ten. She couldn't bear to leave George's side when he was in such a vulnerable state. It broke her heart seeing him this way. It'd been worse earlier though.

George had suffered from a fever not even an hour after he'd collapsed. Luna had no clue what happened to the funeral party after she left; only that Hermione sorted it out for her. Bill and Charlie had carried George's collapsed body and apparated with Luna straight back to The Burrow and a slightly hysterical Mrs Weasley the moment George went down. Charlie got him changed and into bed while Bill and Fleur dealt with Mr and Mrs Weasley. Once they'd calmed down, Charlie brought them to Luna who explained that George collapsed from a mixture of exhaustion, depression and lack of food. Mrs Weasley found a potion that would give George a dreamless sleep and get the right nutrients he needed back into his body. That'd been when the fever set in.

They couldn't use another potion or spell to bring down the fever as it would stop the first one and George needed it to work its magic more than anything else right then so they had to let the fever run its course. Luna had conjured up a three-legged stool and sat there for the first however many hours, dabbing the sweat of George's forehead with a cold, damp cloth. Occasionally she'd let Mrs Weasley do it but she didn't feel too comfortable letting anyone else look after her George. It was _her _job after all, that was the reason why she was there, for him and no one else.

At 3 o'clock in the morning, when everyone was still asleep, the fever got worse. George half-woke – Luna was unsure if he was fully conscious or not – and began having a fit. Screaming and thrashing around, George knocked the bowl of cold water so it shattered onto the floor. Luna leapt back and began to panic. George's screams were waking everyone within a two mile radius but she wasn't allowed to use magic on him.

"Fred! FRED! NO! _FRED!_" He wailed, blindly attacking his covers as Luna ripped them off him and threw them on the floor.

"Luna, wha-?" Charlie was the first of the Weasleys to reach the room.

"I need more water and cloths!" Luna told him urgently, unbuttoning George's pyjama top with difficulty.

The two seemed to forget they possessed magic in that moment as Charlie nodded, pale-faced and bolted from the room, running straight into Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny.

"Move out of the way you four!" Charlie snapped, stampeding downstairs.

"George? G-G-George? George can you hear me? Oh dear God. George?" Luna threw George's shirt on the floor on top of his bed sheets and placed a hand to his forehead. "You poor thing! You're burning up!" She gasped.

"MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" George screamed, accidentally hitting Luna's eye. She didn't even flinch at the pain as Charlie sprinted back into the room, followed by a huffing and puffing Mrs Weasley.

"I think you four ought to go up to Ron's room. This may last a while." Luna vaguely head Mr Weasley tell Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny tiredly. If they did it or not she didn't know, she was too preoccupied with George.

"He's burning up and I'm scared to wake him or use magic. How long until we can give him another potion?" Luna asked Mrs Weasley, glancing over at George worriedly. Keeping a straight head was proving to be difficult.

"Not for another two hours at least dear." Mrs Weasley frowned, ringing her hands and staring at her son.

"We can't wait that long!" Charlie yelled over George's growing screams.

"Well we can't leave him like this either!" Luna put the bowl of fresh water onto the stool she'd vacated. "Charlie, pin him down. Mrs Weasley, can you cool down his chest? I'll mop up his head."

Mrs Weasley nodded several times, reminding Luna a bit of a bobbly statue of a dog she'd once seen in the back of a muggle's car in the village, as Charlie managed to pin George to the bed and took her own cloth. As the cool water made the contact with George's flaming pink chest, George let out an unearthly screech.

"FRED! FRED, MAKE IT STOP!"

"No. No Georgie," Luna used the cloth to stop his hair sticking to his forehead as she whispered in his ear, hoping to reach through to him. Maybe if he could hear her voice, he'd calm down a bit. "George, Fred, he – he can't be here right now but I'll make it better. I promise Georgie."

At her words, George seemed to calm down a bit but he was still moaning and writhing in pain.

"That's it. I'm here George. I've got you." Luna encouraged, cooling down his neck.

"Mum?" George mumbled, turning his head towards her.

"No George, it's Luna. Remember?" the smile she'd gained from George's progress faltered.

"Mum! I want mum! MUM!" George screamed.

Luna blanched and stepped away from George. The pain that sentence had brought her was like he'd punched her in the face again. It was as if a crack had been stamped into the outer shell that kept her together and she couldn't take it. It was crumbling around her and it was too much. She backed away from the bed and into a far corner, tears forming in her eyes that were still glued on George as he began to get worse again.

Why would he call for her? He didn't love her. She was just the tool for his recovery from the loss of Fred. Nothing more. He barely knew her. He'd never cry for her. Ever. Why would he? She wasn't anything special. He would never see her as more than a personal healer at best. Never.

It wasn't long before Fleur came in and took the place that Luna had forced herself to vacate. To her surprise, this upset Luna even more to see how replaceable she was. Unable to stop herself, she buried her face in her legs, which she drew up so she could hug her knees, and let herself cry. It wasn't fair. She gave so much to him and- but she was being selfish and foolish. She couldn't have George all to herself. She didn't expect but she wanted it and that was wrong. She was taking advantage of George, except she wasn't. She genuinely cared from him and wanted to help but what on earth had she expected in return? _Love_? Truth was, she didn't know what she'd expected didn't know but love was preferable to dependence.

Luna sat there in the corner, crying for what seemed like an age, trying to block out George's screams along with the rest of the world.

"Luna?" Bill asked gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Luna shook her head and pulled away from him, hugging her legs tighter.

"Luna, it's over." Bill told her.

He was right. George's screams had stopped.

Luna allowed herself to peek over the top of her knees and around Bill to see that George was still, breathing heavily on his bed, sprawled all over it.

"The fever went back down. He's fine now." Bill explained.

Luna uncurled herself and shakily got up, refusing Bill's helping hand. She stumbled over to George and looked at his peaceful face. She had the urge to stroke it as she blinked away tears remaining in her eyes but she resisted. She sat back down on her stool and watched him, not registering what Bill said. He gave up eventually with whatever he was saying to her and left her alone with George. When Luna was sure they were alone, she leant forward and kissed George's forehead and took her hand in both of hers to hold while he slept. As she sat up straight, she swore she heard George sigh but his breathing definitely eased up.

"I think I understand George. I really do." She whispered to him.

Luna sat there with George as he slept peacefully, thinking of nothing in particular. At 7 o'clock, Fleur came in a wordless pressed an awakening potion into her hand. Luna had heard them all arguing downstairs a little earlier about whether or not they should make her go to sleep. She was so tired at that point that it was hard to distinguish the voices arguing for either side but it was obvious who won.

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	5. Chapter 5

"Luna, Mum sent me up to wake George." Charlie entered the room holding a tray full of bacon sandwiches.

"Not yet." Luna frowned, not looking at the second eldest Weasley boy.

"Luna, we have 2 hours until the funeral. He'll kill us if he misses it," Charlie placed the tray on the empty beside table next to Luna. "We're lucky it's an evening ceremony or we would have had to wake him up earlier."

"I know we only have two hours but if you help me, I can get him ready in 20 minutes." Luna looked up at him now. She was visibly tired and her eyes were red from lack of sleep and crying. She looked so desperate that Charlie couldn't find it in him to deny her.

"Luna, we can't afford to wait." Charlie sighed half-heartedly.

"Fine. We'll wake him but can I get ready first? It'll be easier for us to deal with him if I'm ready." Luna asked, sniffling and wiping her eyes with her free hand.

"Sure," Charlie gave in. "Do you want me to sit here with him?"

"Yes please." Luna sniffed again and removed her hand from George's (which had slowly turned and gripped her while he slept).

George whimpered in his sleep and his hand move d closer to Luna. She ignored it. She had to or she wouldn't move. Slowly, she got up off the stool, finished her awakening potion and moved out of the way so Charlie could sit down.

"The bathroom is the door opposite." Charlie told her.

Luna nodded sleepily, grabbed her wand and traipsed silently to the bathroom. She flinched when she saw herself in the bathroom mirror. It was definitely a good choice to clean herself up before George woke.

The first thing she did was take off her grubby dress and use magic to clean and transfigure it. The skirt grew so it went past her knees and the amount of material in the skirt increased so there were folds in it. The neckline vanished and the sleeves retracted into two spaghetti straps while a thick black satin sash tied itself around the middle of the dress. Satisfied, she hung it up on the back of the bathroom door and set to work washing her face, shaving her armpits and legs and combing through the endless tangles in her hair. Luna found a pouch of Ginny's make up under the sink and put on some light brown lipstick, brown eyeliner, mascara, bronze eye shadow as that was all she felt comfortable with. Besides, it was a wedding after all – not a reason or applying tons of makeup. She scraped her hair back into its now usual bun at the top of her neck and put on a pair of sensible black heels that had once been her black flats. Luna slipped her dress back on and looked herself in the mirror one last time. She still looked slightly tired but her eyes were no longer red and no one could tell yet that she hadn't eaten properly in two days. She sighed tiredly and picked up her wand before returning to George's room.

"Luna, you look… wow." Charlie gaped at her as she walked back in.

He's moved the stool so it was on the opposite side of the bed, facing the door. Luna noticed that he was wearing a black suit and he looked clean. She could have sworn he was in his pyjamas when he'd come in earlier.

"Mum's been ready for hours. She came and sat with him while I got ready." Charlie explained guiltily.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me Charlie." Luna shrugged, placing her wand next to the sandwich tray.

"Oh," Charlie seemed to be at a loss of what to say next.

"Do you want to take him or run him a quick bath?" Luna asked, changing the topic for him.

"I think he'll be less likely to attack you if you wake him so I'll run him a bath." Charlie grimaced, getting up off the stool and leaving the room somewhat dejectedly.

Luna waited until she heard the water running through the closed bathroom door before she moved. She walked noisily over to the bed but paused to look at George's sleeping face. Sleeping was the most peaceful she ever saw him. Luna guessed that Fred was with him in his dreams which was why he was so sad whenever he first woke up and this made her feel uncomfortable about doing the job but she had to.

"George," She said softly, sitting on the edge of the bed and stroking his fringe out of his face. "Georgie, you have to wake up now. Bath time."

"No," George croaked, pulling the covers further over his head. "No bath."

"Oh no you don't." Luna stood up and stripped the covers off of him and throwing them on the floor at the end of the bed.

George grunted in protest and rolled away from her.

"George, it's time to get up now." Luna tried being cross, not that it worked. "You have until I count to three George. I'm not kidding."

"One," Luna spotted the bowl of water from earlier on the floor out of the way.

"Two," she picked up the bowl and brought it over to the bed where George hadn't moved.

"Three," She waited for two more seconds before tipping the contents of the bowl all over George.

"HOLY FUCK!" George yelled, jumping out of the bed. "Luna, what the hell?"

"You had to wake up," Luna told him quietly. She desperately wanted to laugh at his reaction but the weight of the news she had for him dragged the smile off her face. "Fred's funeral is in an hour. You have to get ready."

The little spark that had formed in George's eyes as he woke died.

"Oh no. God no. No no no no NO!" George's breathing became short and shallow, almost at hyperventilation stage.

"No, George. Don't you dare start this now." Luna rushed forward and grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. "Not now. We don't have time. Later, please George. Save it for later."

Tears welled up in George's eyes but he nodded obediently and slowed down his breathing.

"Thank you," Luna sighed with relief. "Charlie is waiting for you in the bathroom with a bath okay? I'll be here." She took his hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Okay." George nodded slowly, squeezing her hand back for the first time.

A sense of guilty elation pulsed through Luna's hand and she couldn't bring herself to look at George. She forced herself to remember how he would never want her and how it was Fred's funeral in about an hour – the feeling was snuffed out instantly.

George let go of her hand and muttered something that she didn't quite catch before traipsing out of the room and across the hall.

Once he was gone, Luna sped around the room making George's bed, removing his old sweaty bed-shirt and covers (which she placed in the washing basket next to the door), taking the empty bowl and cloths down to the kitchen and laying out a black suit plus underwear, shoes and a tie on George's bed.. she flitted from one job to the next, chanting over and over in her mind "Keep busy. Keep busy."

Luna had just finished polishing off his shoes when the door handle turned and clicked open, revealing George in nothing but a towel and dripping wet. Luna turned away instantly and moved over to look out of the window on the adjacent wall, opposite to the bed.

"You'll wear what's on the bed." Luna told him, staring out of the smeared window at the golden sun as it started its slow descent from the sky.

She heard the tell-tale noise of rustling fabric which let her know George was following her instructions.

"Get off Charlie! I can dress myself! I'm not five!" George snapped from behind her.

"Whatever, I was only trying to help. You don't have to be such a prat about it." Charlie muttered back darkly.

"Charlie, can you go see if your mother needs anything else from me?" Luna intervened before George could come up with a rude response, never taking her eyes off the sky.

"Of course Luna." Charlie replied curtly.

She heard his footsteps walk across the room, out of the door that he closed behind him and all the way down the stairs.

"Are you decent?" Luna asked, knowing that they really ought to get a move on.

"I'm dressed." George told her tiredly.

Luna turned around and saw that not only was George dressed but he was also nibbling on the corner of one of the sandwiches Charlie had left for them. Luna wasn't sure what to say to him so she allowed herself to give him a small smile of encouragement. She ignored her own stomach's cries for food and picked up and folded George's pyjamas instead.

"Luna?" George asked hesitantly.

"Yes George?" She paused in her work to look at him properly.

"I-I-" George frowned, appearing to struggle for the right words to express himself. "Thank you."

"For what?" Luna was confused. For waking him up with a bowl of water? Surely not. He looked so serious.

"For helping me. For looking after me. For keeping me calm and putting up with all my, er – all my rubbish." George went on, looking deep into her eyes.

"You're thanking me… for looking after you?" Luna clarified slowly, processing what he'd just said through her mind. George nodded. "What a ridiculous thing to thank me for!" she laughed.

"You're – are you laughing at me?" George frowned, visibly hurt.

"No, no. It's just no one's ever thanked me before for looking after them. I assumed it went without saying – though I guess it would be little more than common manners to do so," Luna laughed again at the absurdity of it all.

She looked over at George's sad face and suddenly didn't find it very funny at all.

"Oh George, I'm so sorry," she put down his clothes on the bed and walked over to him for a hug. "I've been up for over 36 hours. I know it's no real excuse but it might have made me a little bit insensitive."

"36 six hours?" George repeated slowly. "Luna, why didn't you sleep?" He seemed angry with her.

"I couldn't. I was so worried about you." Luna frowned, stepping away from him so she could see his face.

"But you've eaten ,right?" George asked shakily.

Almost scared to do so, Luna shook her head.

"Why not?" George growled, taking multiple deep breaths.

"I was so worried about you that I forgot to eat. It never even crossed my mind." Luna admitted.

"Well eat something now." George told her, taking a sandwich of the plate and holding it out to her.

"George, we don't have time for this." Luna refused.

"Luna, you have to eat it." George insisted.

"I'll eat later. We need to get to the church." Luna promised, turning to finish the job she'd started but George reached out and snatched her wrist, twisting her to face him again.

"Eat it or I won't eat for the next 36 hours and I'll make myself throw this back up too." George glared at her.

"Is that really what you want to do to yourself George?" Luna raised an eyebrow, challenging him.

"I want you to eat. You make me eat all the time so now it's your turn." George folded his arms, rising to the challenge.

Luna glanced at her watch. 6:10pm. 50 minutes.

"George, we don't have time-"

"You keep saying we don't have time but I'm not going anywhere until you eat something." George protested, sitting on the bed.

"You won't." Luna said confidently, her mind completely contradicting the thought.

"Try me." George said smugly.

Luna glared at him and snatched the sandwich out of his hand. Delicately, she took a bit out of the corner and instantly wanted to throw it back up. She forced herself to swallow and looked back over to George.

"I've eaten."

"_All_ of it." George mimicked her words from a few days previously when he wouldn't eat his toast.

Luna wanted to throw him a dirty look but she couldn't make herself do it. Instead she stuffed the sandwich into her mouth and chewed it as fast as she could. It felt dry and was hard to swallow but somehow she managed it.

"Are you happy now?" Luna glared at him. They didn't have time for this.

"Not particularly. Now I have to go to- to go to-" Fred faltered and went a sickly pale colour. His bottom lip trembled and tears sprung from his eyes. Within moments George was a crying, snotty mess in a heap in front of Luna and despite knowing better, she got a little frustrated. Luna glanced at her watch yet again. It was 6:30. They had to be at the church in 30 minutes at the latest.

"Blow," Luna handed George his handkerchief back. She still had it from the day he's accidentally thrown a plate at her, concealed in an invisible pocket in her dress, partly because she hadn't found a good time to give it back and partly because it made her feel a bit closer to George in the short spaces of time she spent away from him. What no one had expected – least of all Luna herself – was how much she would come to rely on George in return. On George's quieter days when she wasn't really needed, Luna felt almost empty inside, like she'd lost her sense of purpose because in fact she had.

The War had left everyone without something or someone, creating empty spaces in every witch and wizard in the country. The only good (if you could even call it that) was that now it was over, everyone left alive were united to rebuild their community. Hogwarts was almost near completion and under Kingley's watchful eye and Hermione's helpful assistance, The Ministry was regenerating into a muggle-born and half-breed friendly place. All the physical repairs now needed to be left in the hands of the experts now and it was time to try and emotionally and psychologically rebuild the wizarding community, which was by far a much harder feat. Physical work helped people forget about their pain and grief by replacing it with a different kind of pain. The mundane physical challenge tired them into forgetting about their loved ones as much. It was time for people similar to Luna to shine as beacons of hope to those lost in the darkness of mourning but no one stopped to think about what it might do to them in return.

"We need to go now or we'll be late." Luna said quietly, not looking at George.

"Okay," George coughed and placed his crumpled, snotty hanky into his pocket.

"We ought to apparate," Luna was keeping one eye on the time as brushed the crumbs off her dress.

"Yeah, I s'pose so." George nodded, not really paying much attention to what she was saying.

Luna walked over to George and took his hand in hers. He instantly jerked it away from her, placing the final straw on Luna's heavily loaded back.

"Be like that then," Luna breathed, feeling another crack form in her shell.

She left the room, tears welling up in her eyes and ran down the stiars and into the kitchen. _Let him get there on his own_, she thought. _What on earth does he need me for? Nothing, that's what. He can take care of himself!_

On the kitchen table in the middle of the cluttered, compact kitchen, Luna recognised her black clutch purse from home laying there with a small piece of parchment poking out of it.

_**Just incase**_

_**~ Hermione x**_

Curious, Luna opened the purse and found it'd been magically enlargened on the inside to hold two thick black coats, a black umbrella, a box of "man-sized" tissues, a handkerchief, spare clothes for her and George, a bottle of sedatives and both a sleeping and awakening potion.

"Luna?" George called in a panicky voice running down the stairs.

"What do you want George?" Luna asked sharply, withdrawing her hand from the purse and placing Hermione's note inside it.

"Luna, don't be mad. I just wanted to help you." George frowned, stopping a little bit in front of her.

"I'm not mad. I don't have time to be mad. Your brother's funeral is in 20 minutes so I don't have time for anything!" Luna exploded, blowing her outer shell to pieces.

George looked at her with a mixture of fear, confusion and shock.

"This is what's going to happen George: I am going to take you to the church. I will sit with you and look after you there as needed and then I will bring you home again. I will stick around for the Waking but that is _it_. When the first person leaves, so do I." Luna was more angry at herself than at George and even though she knew how rude and unjustifiably harsh she was being, she couldn't help it. Her outer shell was gone, there was nothing holding back her emotions, meaning that she couldn't keep it in to herself anymore.

"No Luna, please don't leave me." George begged, fear taking over the mix of emotions he had.

"Why? You don't want me here!" Luna turned and began to walk away but George reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"I do. I do want you with me Luna. I _need_ you." George told her desperately, tears spilling from his eyes, not that Luna could see. Her eyes were fixed on the door that she wanted to walk out of as pain burst through her heart.

"And what about what I want? What about what I need George?" Luna's voice shook as she started crying too.

"Luna please…" George whispered, his entire body shaking.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." Luna breathed, turning around to face him.

He nodded wordlessly and drew her into a hug, resting his wet face on her exposed shoulder and sobbing into her. He clung on for dear life and Luna wondered how she had ever even thought of leaving him.

10 minutes.

Luna held onto George as tightly as he was holding on to her and somehow managed to apparate them both to a spot outside the church. Luckily this was an all-wizard service and the church was carefully concealed from muggle view behind a ring of tall trees so Luna didn't need to worry about being seen and breaking the law.

"George, we need to get inside." Luna told him gently, prizing his face off her should which was now wet, slightly sticky and itched (not that she could do anything about it at the moment with George being her main concern again).

"I can't do it." George sobbed, trying to fall forwards into another hug.

"Yes you can." Luna told him firmly, holding him upright – something that was very difficult as he was almost twice her height.

She stroked his cheek, causing him to instantly straighten up. Luna threaded her arm through his and guided George who had stopped sobbing at least into the church where most of the other people attending the funeral were already waiting. All eyes were on the two and many of them struck up whispered conversations as the pair walked past them down the aisle. What was Looney Lovegood doing holding George Weasley's hand? Why was she sitting in the front row with the family when Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson (Fred's closest friend aside from George and his ex-girlfriend) were being made to sit in the second row? What made her so special? Who did she think she was?

But Luna let all the comments she heard slide off her as she sat George in his seat next to a pale, sobbing Mrs Weasley with 5 minutes to go until the service began.

"You're late." Charlie said through gritted teeth in his seat on her other side, oh so casually re-buttoning his suit jacket up.

"I told you I'd get him here, didn't I? It's not my fault you didn't come back for me." Luna hissed back, taking the tissues out of her clutch bag to mop up George's face.

"What took you so long? Lovers' spat?" Charlie went on cheekily, checking his cuffs were done up properly.

"Not funny." Luna glared at him. It was a rare look but it did occasionally shadow her face and Charlie was suddenly very scared. He did not know Luna that well, nor did he know what kind of things she was capable of. Going pale, Charlie nodded once and faced the front, leaving Luna to mop up George's tears and snotty nose.

To Luna's well hidden displeasure, Mrs Weasley had begun going to Church every Sunday since the war was officially announced over. She'd even invited Luna to join her and Percy who went with her but Luna had politely declined. While she agreed with some of the ideals of religion (no war, peace among all, don't kill people, treat your parents with respect, etc.) but there was several things she didn't agree with, the main one being God in the case of Christianity. She knew better than to voice her displeasure though. The special wizarding service Mrs Weasley went to was helping her bear with the loss of Fred and what the other Weasley children needed was their mother so whatever Mrs Weasley needed to recover, Luna would support even if she didn't quite believe in it personally.

The incredibly short wizard vicar (_was he a dwarf?_ Luna thought) preached on about the life of Fred and about God for a good hour before his parents were called up to say a few words. Luna only half listened, feeling guilty for it but she wasn't really interested in hearing about God and she was preoccupied with keeping an eye on George, who had been crying steadily and silently the entire time with his eyes practically glued to the open casket where his dead twin lay in an identical suit to his.

"And now his twin, George, has a few words." The vicar announced gravely.

Charlie took out a piece of folded parchment from his jacket pocket and handed it to George.

"We worked on this while you were at home studying." Charlie explained, noticing Luna's confused look.

"I- I can't do it," George looked at Luna, terrified. "I can't."

"Do you want me to do it?" Luna whispered, unable to come up with an alternative.

George nodded, using a crumpled tissue to dry his eyes.

"Okay then but you have to stand with me." Luna told him, taking his hand again to walk to the podium where the tiny vicar stepped aside to allow them to speak. George opened the folded note which turned out to be a reasonable length and placed it in front of Luna to read, hugging her from behind while he cried in to her hair and failed to hide from the hundred or so people in the considerably small church hall in front of them.

"None of you here today will miss Fred like I will. You will never miss anyone like I miss Fred. We did everything together. Slept, ate, pranked, flew, fought – heck, we even needed the toilet at the exact same time," – Luna paused to allow a few half-hearted chuckles before she went on – "We were one and the same, Fred and I but- but now he's dead and it's like I'm both physically and mentally missing half of myself. Where my left side should be is just this void, this kind of hollow empty nothingness that was once full of life. On my left side is where Fred should be but he's not. I will never see Fred again. Not until the day I die at least and I – we – plan for that to be a very long way away. It just sucks that Fred will never be there to be the best man at my wedding (assuming any woman could bear marrying me) or be Godfather to my kids. I was lucky I got to see him grow old just once before he died. The thing is it doesn't matter really because I know that Fred's okay. He's being looked after by Lily Potter just like mum looks after Harry and Sirius, Remus and James Potter are teaching him old school pranks that we knew by the time we were three. But Fred is safe there. Safe and loved just as he should be. Luna-"

Luna faltered as she read her name out loud but bravely carried on regardless.

"Luna told me so and how can she be wrong? Everyone loves Fred and Luna promised everything is going to be alright. Fred would believe her just as much as I do, not that I'd ever want to swap places with him. I never want him to feel this pain. It won't be as bad for him in heaven with some of the greatest pranksters of all time and my ear to keep him company – the lucky sod. I guess the greatest challenge now is reality. " Luna stopped again and turned to George who nodded at her to say the last line.

"Fred, I love you. Wait for me."

Luna finished, not daring to look into the faces of the people staring up at her. The speech had sounded so wrong coming out of her mouth as it was intended for George to say and that embarrassed her slightly. She folded up the piece of parchment neatly and took George's hand, dragging George back to their seats before anyone could shout abuse at her.

"Now let us say our final goodbyes before we sing hymns and pray." The vicar said morbidly.

Luna remained in her seat as the other Weasleys got up and filed past her. Despite having the so-called privilege of sitting in the front row with the family, it was only because she was there to keep George calm – Luna knew her place: at the very back of the line, just before George who had insisted on saying the last goodbye.

From where they were sitting, Luna and George could see a tuft of ginger hair and a pale, freckle spattered nose that belonged to Fred's corpse. Looking at it made Luna want to be sick (not because it was Fred but it could so easily have been George – not that that was her only reason). Heaven only knew what George was feeling beside her but she would bet her life that it wasn't anything good. It seemed like an age before it was time for Luna and George to say their goodbyes and when they were called up, George's hand leapt for Luna's and gripped it tightly in his as they stood up together and walked over to Fred's coffin.

"I- I'm sorry Fred. I really am. I wish this hadn't happened to you but it has and I'm trying to do the best I can to keep George going but it's hard. I promise I'll try harder for you and for George and for everyone else. Please wait for him and watch over him. You know how much he needs you." Luna whispered the first thing that came to mind to Fred's unmoving corpse.

She didn't look at George as she finished talking. Instead she walked several feet away from the coffin so he could have a moment alone with his twin. Luna was unsure about how George would react to this final goodbye and it set her on edge more than being in church did. She watched George carefully as he whispered something into his twin's ear before he choked up and became of ginger, sobbing mess, clutching onto the coffin just so he could stand. Luna had been anticipating this and calmly but quickly made her way over to George. He clung onto her again and once more, Luna wished she was taller and stronger so that she could hold him up better without hurting herself.

"Carry on with the service." Luna instructed the miniscule vicar as she half dragged, half carried George into the nearest side room.

It angered her that no one made so much as a move to help her when they could see she was practically collapsing under George's weight (although that just proved how weak she was as he barely ate anything so he was quite light as a result). She could understand why no one had come to help her; right now George was potentially dangerous and as almost everyone else in the church hall were useless crying messes themselves they would be no help to her anyway but still, the least they could do was offer.

She sat George down on a sturdy closed toilet lid (they were in a toilet/changing room) and got the tissues out of her bag.

"Ssssh," She hushed him gently, dabbing the tears from his face. "Come on. You were doing so well."

"He- he- he's gone. He's really gone!" George sobbed, collapsing in on himself.

"I know. I know," She crouched down in front of him and stroked his hair softly. "But he's in a better place now and he's waiting there for you. We talked about it."

"I can't do it! He left me!" George howled.

"I know Georgie, I know."

Tears started prickling in her eyes. Seeing George hurt this way hurt her more than the thought of him not wanting her. She ought to be used to it by now and she was in a way. It was probably the stress and the pressure of the past few days getting to her that was making her cry. Something deep down inside her was telling her that it wasn't but she ignored it.

"Shall I take you home?" she wiped her eyes and stood up.

George nodded shakily.

"Okay then. You need to stand up so I can apparate us both back to The Burrow." She instructed him.

"Parents." George choked out.

"Do you want me to go tell them? It'll mean leaving you alone for a minute." Luna asked, frowning slightly. Surely Mr and Mrs Weasley were expecting her to take George home? They would understand.

"No." He shook his head.

"Okay then, up you get." Luna put her hands under his arms and hauled George off of the toilet.

She took a step backwards for more room to operate and George stumbled towards her drunkenly. Luna let out a small sight as George quietly moaned. It was going to be difficult for them both to recover from today; she knew that and the thought made her tired but she couldn't stop now. George needed her. She didn't restrain herself this time from pulling him fully into a hug - after all, it would make it easier to apparate back to The Burrow. He buried his head into her neck and she had the strange suspicion he was sniffing her hair as she turned on the spot to take them back home.

**Please Read and Review. I will not update another chapter until I've had at least one review for this chapter**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you so much for the two lovely people who reviewed :D**

**If you're interested there is another half to the fanfiction from George's point of view:**

**.net/s/7850748/1/All_Because_of_A_Mistake_George**

**That's the link if you want to read it. Sorry, you might have to copy and paste it because links don't seem to want to work for me. **

**I'd like to say now that I won't update another chapter until the previous one (this counts for the rest of the story) has at least one review. Thanks again for your time and reviews**

In the weeks following Fred Weasley's funeral, Luna Lovegood never left The Burrow once. George had made himself violently sick again and could not eat anything without violently throwing it back up again – healing potions included. Luna had taken on the role of 24-hour nurse and only left his room for a total of an hour per day to wash and use the shower. She ended up eating little more than George did and she slept even less. Slowly she was making herself ill and she was the only one blind to it. George had mentioned to her several times that she needed food and rest but as soon as she even thought about leaving him to have a nap or grab a snack, he would need her again and she couldn't leave him. It wasn't until July that George really recovered and even then he needed Luna's encouragement to eat.

"Luna, this is absolutely ridiculous!" Charlie slammed his fist down on the table one morning, startling Harry, Ron, Ginny and George who were all slumped in their seats half-asleep while they ate their breakfast in a zombie-like manner. Luna zoned back into reality and stopped staring out of the window to give Charlie a fairly bemused look instead.

"Charlie! Apologise!" Mrs Weasley scolded almost half-heartedly from by the stove where she was cooking more bacon.

"Mum, she's not eating! She's barely eaten anything since the funeral and God forbid she's actually slept more than six hours this week. She's killing herself right in front of us and we're not doing anything about it!" Charlie said furiously.

"Charlie." She warned him, putting down the frying pan.

"So what Ma, you're going to let the only thing keeping George going to _kill_ herself?" Charlie retorted, outraged.

All eyes were on Luna who was staring curiously at Charlie.

"I'm sorry. How selfish of me. I'm not being a very good role model for George now am I?" Luna said quietly, picking up her knife and fork. She cut off a baby piece of bacon and popped it into her mouth.

"Luna," Mrs Weasley sighed, turning to face the child she regarded as her second daughter. How could she have been so blind as to not see her daughter wasting away before her very eyes?

"No, Charlie is right and I am very sorry. I will make a better attempt to eat and sleep more from now on." Luna said in the dame weak and quiet voice, placing another tiny piece of bacon into her mouth and chewing it so slowly that it was almost painful for the others around the room to watch.

"Luna?" George asked from his seat on her left.

"Yes George?" She smiled at her plate as she cut up some more bacon.

"Have I made you ill?" He sounded strangely child-like as he frowned at her.

"Don't be silly George," She stopped to look at him seriously, the smile lost from her face. "What is happening to me is in no way your fault." _It was all mine_, she added in her head silently.

There was an uncomfortable silence at the dinner table as they all finished their breakfast, Luna more slowly that the rest of them. Everyone wanted to say something but no one dared in case they set George off or upset Luna. Once breakfast was over, Luna fetched her school books from the room she shared with George and went into the living room to study on the floor while George sat next to her and designed a leaflet the reopening of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Luna and Mrs Weasley had convinced him to reopen the store at the start of June in order to give him a goal to work towards that required him getting better. Lee had offered George his help but George refused. Only Luna and surprisingly Ron were allowed to talk to him about his plans for the shop and after a heated lecture from Luna that was now fine with everyone else. When Ron wasn't on Auror Training he was discussing the shop with George so that Luna could shower or study or sort things for The Quibbler (which she was still running single-handedly).

Both George and Luna heard a knock on the front door and ignored it. It was probably someone looking for Harry and Mrs Weasley was used to dealing with those people. There was no need for them to get up. They heard 3 other low voices in the kitchen plus Mrs Weasley's before there was a small set of knocks on the door.

"George dear, you have some visitors." Mrs Weasley said.

"It's not Lee again is it? Because if it is you can tell him to fu-" George started angrily.

"George!" Luna scolded, cutting him off..

"I think I should be offended that he doesn't want to see us." Luna recognised Oliver Wood, ex-captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team as he strode into the living room past Mrs Weasley.

"I couldn't agree more Oliver." Alicia Spinnet, ex-chaser nodded in agreement as she filed in after him.

"I think he does really." Angelina added softly, coming in last.

Luna sat up and looked at the three strangers (not that they were really strangers. She recognised them from school and then from the funeral and knew that they were George's friends) before looking at George who seemed surprised to see them. Instantly Luna started packing her books away to move to another room. She felt like the odd one out and knew it would be good for George to spend some time with someone who wasn't related to him.

"Please, don't leave on our account." Oliver told her, even though he did not know her name.

"It's okay George," she smiled weakly at him. "You need to spend some times with your friends and I need to study. Don't worry about me; I'll be back for lunch." She told him quietly but the others still heard.

George looked like he was going to protest further but Luna sent him a warning look and left the room. Still carrying her books, Luna stepped into the fireplace and flooed back to her house. Everything was coated in two inches of dust from where Luna hadn't returned in so long. Charlie and Ginny had been printing out and sending off copies of The Quibbler for her but they apparated straight to the second floor and back to The Burrow again, never stepping into another room.

Luna sighed and carefully placed her stack of books on the table to try and disturb as little dust as possible. She coughed a bit as grey fluff flew into the air. She rushed to the windows and threw them open, banishing the musty air out and letting the sunlight in. Luna then went hunting under the sink and found a battery powered hand hover and several dust cloth as well as a dustpan and brush. As a child her parents never had enough time to clean so one day her mother had bought her the hand-held muggle device and a big box of batteries so Luna could clean up the house for her without magic. Luna never minded. She found the muggle way of cleaning oddly therapeutic and it allowed her to discipline herself as well. From under the sink, Luna also got a black sack and used the brush to start scraping dust off of the sides and into the sack. She then swept the dust from the floor into a large mound in the middle of the room and cheated, using her wand to levitate the pile into the sack as well before going back over all of the sides and using the mini hoover and duster to suck up the rest of the dust. Next Luna wiped down the sides with a bacteria killing potion and cleaned the kitchen utensils in the sink. She threw all of the stale and mouldy food out of the fridge and cupboards in four more black sacks and put them with the first sack in the bins behind the house. When she returned to the kitchen she scrubbed the refrigerator (charmed to run off magic) and the fireplace before washing the curtains and cloths by hand in the sink.

By the time she'd done all that and scrubbed the floor it was gone 3 o'clock. Her stomach sank – she'd missed lunch but George was probably having too much of a good time with his friends to notice so she got herself a drink of water and went upstairs to clean the moulding bathroom.

While being a calming experience for Luna, cleaning by hand tired her greatly. It was tea time when she finished the bathroom and she was rather dirty and smelly by then. Luna had a cold five-minute shower to wake her up in her newly cleaned bathroom before getting changed back into the clothes she'd been wearing before (which had been quickly cleaned with magic) and flooed back to The Burrow, hoping that she hadn't missed dinner or that there would at least be some pudding waiting for her return.

When she stepped out of the fireplace Luna found an angry reception of red-heads waiting for her. _All_ of the Weasleys -with the exception of George who was crying at the kitchen table and being comforted by Angelina and Fleur- were waiting for her, arms folded and identical looks of anger and slight fear plastered onto their faces. Luna couldn't help herself. She laughed.

"I've never been in trouble before." She told them, clearly amused as the new experience.

"Luna!" George jumped out of his seat and raced over to her, engulfing her in a huge hug.

"Hello George." She smiled, hugging him back.

"Vell I am going to start ze dinner. Mrs Weasley, are you coming?" Fleur asked, getting up from the table.

"Yes, come along Ginny, you can help too," Mrs Weasley sighed and turned to her husband. "Don't be too hard on her dear." She added before walking away. Mrs Weasley rarely got angry or gave out punishments anymore. She just could not find it in her heart to scold and discipline her children like she used to. It was Mr Weasley who wore the trousers in the family now, not that he wore them quite to his wife's old standards.

"Thank goodness you're okay." Ginny smiled weakly at her friend before following after the two older women.

George still refused to let go of Luna. Angelina looked over at them enviously before going over and joining the women in their cooking.

"Do you have any idea how worried you had us all?" Mr Weasley frowned, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"George was in such a state that we all had to leave work to try and calm him down." Bill added on angrily.

"You didn't come back from lunch like you promised and you didn't tell anyone where you were going." Charlie glared at her but there was an air of forgiveness and relief hanging around him that pushed away his anger. Next to George he seemed to be the most upset about her temporary disappearance.

Luna was smiling at this strange experience of being told off. It was rather amusing to feel irritated with these people she regarded as a family however Charlie made her want to frown. Luna understood all too well what Charlie probably felt for her and it made her a bit uncomfortable.

"You're extremely lucky I was able to track you through my connections at the Ministry." Percy snapped, mirroring his father by pushing up his lopsided glasses.

"Could you not have tried my home first rather than resorting to such drastic measures?" The corners of Luna's mouth tugged downwards. They were being plain silly and acting way over the top for such a simple matter. Even with the circumstances, it still would have made sense to check at her house before going to the ministry about it.

"You flooed out of here Luna. You could have been anywhere." Ron reasoned with her, unable to look into her eyes.

"But I wasn't anywhere, I was at my house." This was just ridiculous. "And if you knew where I was, why didn't you come to find me?"

"I've literally only just returned from the Ministry." Percy seemed to be the angriest with her and Luna didn't quite understand why. She and Percy barely spoke to each other. What real right did he have to be mad at Luna?

"And Luna, you should remember that now isn't a good time to be wandering off." Arthur sighed, shaking his head.

"Why? The war is over Mr Weasley! The Death Eaters are all in Azkaban thanks to Kingsley, Harry and Ron! And I didn't wander off! Owas at my house, cleaning it up because it's become a mess as I've not been there in months!"

For the first time in her life, Luna Lovegood was truly angry. Not hurt or disappointed or even sounding angry. She _was_ angry. They had no right to lecture her! All she ever did was help them! So she forgot to tell them where she was going one time. So what? She _forgot_. She did one small thing for herself and the women abandon her while the men scold her! She wasn't taking it. She didn't deserve that.

"Luna-" Bill began but she cut him off, another first.

"Bill please. I've been looking after George for months because you can't do it yourselves and while I don't mind that I do mind the fact that when I make one tiny mistake and do one thing for myself and you blow and panic. I'm only human! No one here has made a move to defend me either! How's that for gratitude?" Luna shouted uncharacteristically.

The entire kitchen stopped and stared at her, stunned by her outburst. For the first time they didn't see her as a strong, capable young woman who they could offload George onto to be taken care of but as a sick little girl who needed to be looked after herself but cared too much to let anyone do it – something Charlie had been seeing for a long time.

"George," Luna's voice shook from the strain of keeping all her emotions pent up inside her. "I need you to let go of me."

"Where are you going?" he asked her, obviously scared and unwilling to let her go.

"I'm going back to my house. I will spend the night there and return to collect you in the morning. Charlie will put you to bed and if worse comes to worst, I'm sure he, Ron or Ginny will come and get me if I'm needed." She told him comfortingly, prizing herself from his grasp.

"Can't I come with you?" He asked desperately, fighting her hands to keep hold of her.

"No. I don't have food to feed you dinner or breakfast. I'll have to go food shopping in the village now actually. Besides, one of your friends is still here." She nodded over at Angelina.

"Luna-"

"Don't you dare tell me to take him with me Charlie Weasley," Luna said sharply, cutting off the Weasley brother before he could plead George's case to her. "George has got to learn to cope without me anyway. I'm returning to Hogwarts in a few weeks anyway."

"What?" Several shocked voices asked from all over the room.

Luna wanted to scream in frustration – another thing that wasn't like her at all. What had they expected? She'd been studying in front of their very eyes for months. Did they think that she'd just drop her education to take care of George fulltime? What had they been thinking? Luna actually had plans for her life and although she loved him, she wouldn't throw them all away for George. If any of them actually cared for Luna the tiniest bit they'd understand that.

"The letters came out today," Ginny said quietly as she set the table. "I take it yours was delivered to your house?"

"Yes it did," She nodded back. "School starts early this year and finishes late." She added for the benefits of the other Weasleys.

"Why?" Ron asked, confused.

"Isn't it obvious Ronald? They have to teach most of the students two years' worth of magic in a single year as well as help he students recover from any psychological damage they may have acquired last year." Percy explained in his 'isn't-it-obvious' voice.

"Don't 'Ronald' me." Ron growled at his brother.

"So I'm not allowed to use your _name_ anymore?" Percy asked scathingly.

A mini fight broke out between the two and Luna sighed. She freed herself from George (it was easier now he was distracted) and headed straight for the fireplace. Nobody made a move to stop her but then again, no one made a move to stop Ron and Percy from bickering either. Mrs Weasley started to cry as she magically peeled potatoes. Mr Weasley sighed and sat slumped in a chair with his head in his hands while everyone else looked on helplessly. This was a Luna-will-sort-it-out situation and because she'd been doing it for so long that she'd been doing it for so long that they had seemed to forget how to deal with it themselves. Luna felt torn in two. Part of her wanted to leave, to storm out and not return until tomorrow morning while the other part of her was telling her to sort out the argument _then_ leave.

Luna made an angry noise and lunged forward, grabbing both Percy and Ron by the scruffs of their necks. She dragged them outside to the darkening sky and only let them go when she reached the end of the garden and out of sight of the rest of the family.

"Will you pull yourselves together?" She snapped, tempted to smack both of their freckled faces. "There is no need to argue about a name!" They both opened their mouths to argue but Luna glared at them and carried on lecturing them. "You're both adults now so start acting like it! Your family is falling apart and pretty soon I won't be here to patch you all up! You better stop this nonsense and get your act together!"

"Luna, you can't leave us." Percy protested.

"What about George?" Ron asked.

"What about me? Have you been ignoring everything I've said?"

Luna couldn't bring herself to wait for the obvious answers. She clenched her hands into fists to stop herself from slapping them both and dashed off down the garden. Through the gate and over the hill, ignoring the shouts and cries for her return. She kept running over one, two, three hills until her feet screamed in protest and her sides burned in pain. She stumbled and fell into a ditch of sorts between four tall hills as it started to rain. Luna tripped over a rock and came crashing to the ground. She lay there, unmoving. She just couldn't bring herself to get up and go on. She was killing herself anyway so what did it matter? Luna's eyes blurred from a mixture of tears and rain as she lay there, staring at a daisy being pelted with small watery droplets. It kept buckling and falling sideways. How had it not broken yet? It was under so much pressure…

Luna suddenly felt herself being picked up but she couldn't see who it was because they'd picked her up from behind. She didn't fight them like she ought to. She just didn't have the energy and the arms holding her felt familiar, as was the voice whispering in her ear.

Luna didn't remember falling asleep or arriving home but she did remember the arms. They must have carried her back to her house and put her in bed. But she was in her pyjamas. When did she put on her pyjamas? Why was her nose blocked and her head stuffy? The light streaming in from the window was too bright. Luna frowned and tried to sit up but her body ached so much that she just fell back into bed again.

She must have fallen asleep again because it was dark when she regained consciousness. Luna realised she was alone and she didn't like that. Her house was creepy, especially as she was all alone. Luna's head was lighter now although her nose was still blocked and her body still ached but she still dragged herself out of bed. She flicked the lights on in her bedroom and noticed a stack of books on the chair next to the door. Ontop of of the stack of books was the list Hogwarts had sent her. She double-checked and found that all the books were the books on the list and a handwritten note was taped to the spine of one of the books.

_Don't worry about paying me back. We'll settle the score later x_

Luna frowned. The handwriting looked vaguely familiar but she couldn't quite place it in her memory. She felt guilty that whoever had been taking care of her had bought her schoolbooks for her but how had they known?

Grabbing onto the walls for support, Luna dragged herself downstairs. She searched the entire middle floor but there was no one there, nor was there anyone in the kitchen. A bowl of steaming soup was sat on the table as well as a glass of apple juice. Unable to bear standing any longer, Luna slumped into the chair and rested her head in one of her hands.

_Eat. Please? X_

A note was placed on the table next to the bowl and Luna suddenly realised how hungry she was. Slowly she ate the soup. Her head and nose seemed to clear up as she ate more and more but her eyelids began to droop.

When Luna awoke for the third time she was back in her bed. It carried on like that for the next week or so. This mysterious stranger looked after her but she never saw him. He left her notes and cooked for her and did all her shopping but he or she never allowed Luna to see them. It frustrated Luna a bit especially as she left some money for them once and in return she received a written rant about not wanting her money.

Luna recovered quickly, partially because she wanted to try and catch her carer (not that she ever did) and partially because she did not want to waste valuable time with George by being ill. To her surprise he had not thrown a mini fit over her being ill and not coming for him which made her suspicious. It turned out she should not have worried about recovering quickly though. Almost every other day it seemed, Angelina was at The Burrow leaving Luna with the strange feeling that Mrs Weasley had commissioned Angelina as her replacement. It angered Luna more than anything to know she was being replaced. It was as if the Weasleys were blackmailing her to abandon her education for George instead. In the end Luna refused to talk to anyone but Charlie and Ron (who didn't seem to like Angelina's ever-growing presence as much as she did) and obviously George. She stopped going to The Burrow on "Angelina days" too. It was obvious to Luna that George wasn't too happy with the new arrangements but he never kicked up a fuss like Luna was secretly hoping he would. To her surprise, George's lack of response upset her even more.

All too soon it was the day she was due at Kings Cross. Luna's trunk had been packed for days and the house was ready for her departure. Charlie had agreed to continue printing the Quibbler for Luna. They'd argued over her paying him and in the end Luna won (as she knew she would).

Luna apparated directly onto Platform 9 ¾ at 10:40, all alone. She tried her best not to scan the crowd in hope of seeing George. Why would he come and see her off? He didn't care for her anymore and they'd said their goodbyes the previous day anyway and he didn't even shed a single tear for her. Once her trunk was on the train, Luna hovered on the platform awkwardly, not sure about what to do with herself. All around her families and friends bid goodbye to their loved ones. Everyone had someone and there she stood, out of place as always and all alone.

As she turned to get on the train, a pair of hands covered her eyes.

"Guess who." A familiar voice whispered in her ear.

"What are you doing here?" Luna couldn't help but smile as George let go of her and spun her around to face him.

"I had to see you again before you left." He told her honestly, hugging her tightly.

"If anything gets too difficult, owl me okay? McGonagall is happy for me to floo back in the evenings and on weekends if I need to." Luna told him as Mrs Weasley approached them, knowing it was not necessary – _Angelina_ would deal with George's hiccups now.

"Oh Luna dear, I hardly think that's necessary," Mrs Weasley smiled at her sadly. How she would miss Luna when she went back to Hogwarts, despite the fact that she'd already replaced the girl with Angelina. "We're so much better thanks to you. I think we can cope for a little while."

"Mum?" Ginny called from a little way down the platform, Harry hanging off of her. Mrs Weasley bid a hasty farewell to the girl she once regarded as a daughter before leaving Luna and George on their own.

"Luna, please don't go back." George begged, hugging her even more tightly.

"It'll be Christmas before you know it and I'll be back at the Burrow." Luna whispered in his ear, unable to resist stroking his hair.

"Christmas isn't soon enough." George told her, his voice cracking a bit.

"What about the first Hogsmeade weekend?" Luna compromised. "It's only 3 weeks away."

"Luna, _please_." George held her close to him, terrified that this would be the last time he would ever get to see her again.

"George, no I-"

Before she could protest any further, George smashed his lips against hers.

Luna's mind went blank for a moment before it kicked into high speed as she processed what was happening. This is what she had wanted for so long now. This is what she'd wanted and she'd gotten it, except... George wasn't kissing her because he loved her. He didn't want her as his girlfriend - he wanted her as a kind of second mother, as someone to look after him and take care of him because his own mother couldn't really do the job (not that it was Mrs Weasley's fault in the slightest). And as much as she - not loved, liked or enjoyed taking care of him. Those were the wrong words. Taking care of him gave her a sense of purpose and made her feel wanted but she couldn't spend the rest of her life looking after George with next to no reward in return. She needed to be free, to be her own person and do what she wanted and right now she wanted to go back to Hogwarts. She'd been studying in all her free time so that she could go on to complete her 7th year as planned and sadly not even George could stop her from this.

Behind her, the Hogwarts' Express whistled, signalling it was about to leave. Luna pulled herself away from George and looked at him, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

"No George. I'm going. I want to. I've given you 5 months of my life where you have practically  
>monopolized everything I do. Can't I just have this one thing for myself?" Luna asked him, slowly backing up towards the train door.<p>

George just stared at her blankly, not saying a word.

"Yes, that's what I thought." Luna muttered to herself.

She turned around and boarded the train. She threw herself in her seat as far away from the window as possible and curled up in a ball, not daring to look out the window as the train began to slowly move away from the station. If she saw George she would feel guilty and jump straight back off of the train and into his arms just like he wanted her to do but she just couldn't. If she gave in to George now, she would never be her own person again.

**Please remember to review. I need at least 1 to carry on to the next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

Being back at Hogwarts 'freaked Luna out' to put it in colloquial terms. The screams of tortured students haunted the corridors and awful, pain-filled memories plagued her as she wandered the castle. At night Luna was plagued with nightmares, causing her to long for George's strong, protective arms to hold her and save her from the dark. Sleeping on her own with George so far away made Luna extremely uncomfortable and as a result she hardly slept. To distract her heart from breaking due to unrequited love, Luna threw herself into her studies. She never spoke to anyone unless absolutely necessary and always made excuses not to talk to Ginny or Hermione. Charlie Weasley wrote to Luna a few times, always managing to skirt around the topic of George. She sent him back feeble replies and eventually he stopped writing. George never wrote to her and she never wrote to him. Whenever she tried she couldn't think of what to say so after staring at a blank bit of parchment for hours, she returned to her studies, always feeling haunted by the feelings of sadness and regret.

Time flew by at Hogwarts and all too soon it was the Friday before the first Hogsmeade weekend. Luna sat on the floor in front of the fireplace in the Ravenclaw common room, quill and parchment to hand. She was unsure if she was still going to meet George. Her feelings about it were split in two. The last time she had made contact with George, he kissed her and they had not parted on good terms. Would he still want to see her? Or would he feel too betrayed and not show? The only way to find out was to ask him.

_If you want to see me tomorrow, meet me outside Zonko's at 10:30am. _

_Luna x._

This was her 20th attempt at writing to George and the words still felt all wrong. Still, it was getting late and if she was to see George tomorrow (assuming he showed up) she would need to be well-rested to avoid interrogation. It was after hours so Luna had to be very sneaky about getting to the Owlery to send off her letter and back to the Common Room but by some miracle managed to pull of the trip without getting caught, much to her pleasure. Once she was in bed, Luna fell straight to sleep. She didn't have a nightmare this time, to her relief, but was being plagued by George's sobs and memories of his distraught face in her dreams a nice thing? Not really.

As always, Luna awoke early on Saturday morning. After careful consideration she opted to wear a blue and bronze kilt with black stockings, a white button-up blouse and black flats with an Alice-band and a flower broach that matched her skirt. Luna left her hair down and didn't bother with make-up (this was only George after all). She put on a thick black travelling cloak, hiding her wand, a wad of tissues and her small orange purse in one of the inside pockets before skipping breakfast to go straight to the village.

The walk alone was peaceful and not nearly as long as she remembered, meaning that she arrived in the charming village of Hogsmeade an hour early. To waste time Luna went into Honeyduke's, beating the throngs of students destined to arrive by hours, and bought herself some liquorice wands and a chocolate frog for George, remembering how fond of them he was. Next she visited the stationary supply store and stocked up on coloured ink, quills and parchment – things that she was in dire need of, especially with all the studying and extra work she was doing. Lastly she visited the Post Office just to gaze longingly at the beautiful birds. She decided that over Christmas she would buy herself an owl. It might be nice to have an animal companion and as she'd never had one before it seemed like a good time to find out.

Luna glanced at her watch and saw she was 10 minutes late for meeting George. She rushed out of the store and straight to Zonko's where she could see a familiar, tall red-head with only one ear walking away with his back to her.

"George!" Luna called out without stopping to think.

He froze before slowly turning to face her. The first thing Luna noticed was how tired he looked. There were dark patches under his slightly bloodshot eyes, exactly like hers. His cloak hid his body from Luna's view but she guessed that he was thinner, just as she was. It dawned on her that this was all her own doing. She wasn't there to encourage George to eat or help him sleep. A wave of guilt crashed down over her as he moved slowly over to her. By the expression on his face it was as if he'd seen a ghost but then again, maybe not. What use was that muggle expression to witches and wizards who were fully aware of the existence of ghosts (who most of the time weren't scary in the slightest. Well, to Luna at least. Physically, the dead cannot hurt you so why be afraid of them?)

Luna tracked several emotions across George's face as he advanced on her: disbelief, relief, longing, confusion, annoyance and finally happiness.

"I though you decided to l-to ditch me." George frowned as he came to stand a few centimetres in front of Luna.

"I'm sorry. I got distracted in the Post Office." Luna apologised, fighting the urge to hug him or at least reach out and touch him to see if he was real.

George nodded thought fully but didn't speak, setting Luna's nerves off. He didn't want to be there. Should she make him leave her then or try to power through it?

"It's a little chilly. Shall we go onto the Three Broomsticks for a drink?" Luna asked as George's gaze wondered from her face to the sea of Hogwarts students arriving.

"Sure" George shrugged, walking towards the pub.

Luna followed him in silence, planning what to say once they were sat down. George ordered drinks while Luna bagsied a small table fit for two near down the back of the room where it was less crowed. When George joined her there was another awkward silence as Luna sipped her butter beer, staring at George who looked uncomfortable.

"So I'm thinking of buying myself an owl at Christmas" Luna told him, attempting to start a conversation.

"That's nice" George replied absent-mindedly, staring at the table.

"Do you have any suggestions about buying owls" She asked, insistent on having a conversation with him.

"Not really" He frowned, still staring at the table.

They lapsed into silence again for a few minutes before George finally looked at her. He reached out a trembling hand caressed the side of her face. Luna's eyes fluttered close as his warm hand made contact with her skin. At that moment she wanted to be in his arms, kissing him more than anything else in the world right at that moment but George had made it obvious that he didn't want her so she restrained herself. Luna's eyes flew back open as his hand left her skin, making the spots where he touched it feel cold.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this."

Luna stared at him in shock as he got up from the table and walked quickly out of the bar, leaving his drink barely touched in the place opposite her. It took all of Luna's willpower not to break down and cry then and there. She stood up and left her drink too before speed-walking out of the bar. By the time she hit the road connecting to Hogwarts she was running, hot tears in her eyes threatening to spill down her abnormally pale face. Stragglers making their way to Hogsmeade stopped and stared at her, catching the occasional sob that exploded from Luna's chest. No one tried to stop her and comfort her or ask if she was alright thought. They didn't care. Nobody cared for Luna. She didn't even care for herself.

After that Luna ate less and lost even more sleep. She threw herself into The Quibbler now in addition to her school work. She tried to make each issue more exciting than the last. For Luna there just weren't enough hours in the day yet she always managed to get things done no matter what challenges got in her way. By the time Christmas was almost upon them all Luna was skeletal-thin and was ill with a terrible cold. When Ginny found her hiding in the library, she wondered how the girl who once resembled her friend wasn't dead yet.

"Can I join you?" she asked, hovering behind the seat next to Luna's.

A pair of blank eyes met Ginny's and it took all of her self-control not to gasp. What the hell had she been doing to herself? Torture by the looks of it and Ginny's guess wasn't far off the truth. Images of George every time he was hurt or angry had imprinted themselves onto Luna's mental eye meaning that she could never escape him or the guilt she felt.

"I don't see why not." Luna coughed and Ginny noted how her once dreamy voice now unusually rough.

"You should see Madam Pomfrey about that. She'll have you fixed up in less than a minute." Ginny told her, sitting.

"I'll go later." Luna lied. She'd purposefully been avoiding Pomfrey. The old healer would start monitoring her to make sure she ate and slept the second she would clap eyes on Luna and Luna just didn't have time for that.

The two girls sat in silence for a moment as Luna finished writing her sentence.

"My mum asked me to tell you that you're welcome to spend Christmas with use." Ginny smiled at her.

"No thank you." Luna resumed writing her essay.

"But don't you want to see George?" Ginny frowned, asking the worst possible question.

A lump formed in Luna's throat and her eyes began to water. She set down her quill and rolled up the piece of parchment, placing them both in her bag before turning back to Ginny.

"Has he not told you?" She asked, attempting to swallow the lump.

"Told me what?" Ginny was confused. She had found it odd that George rarely mentioned Luna in his letters to her but she never pressed him on it, assuming everything was fine and that he was writing to Luna as well.

"I- We- George doesn't want me around anymore." Luna breathed deeply as she struggled to find the words she needed.

"Don't be ridiculous Luna. George loves you." Ginny laughed. It was so blindingly obvious! How could the girl who saw everything and more not see it too?

"No he doesn't Ginny. I'm just a nurse or possibly a second mother to him." Luna told her miserably.

"Luna, you aren't so stop thinking that way. George loves you." Ginny insisted.

"He can't love me," Luna couldn't stand the thought. "We haven't written to each other and on the first Hogsmeade visit he left me after five minutes. He hates me for leaving him Ginny. I should never have left!" She started crying and a sharp look from Madame Pince meant that Ginny had to get up and help Luna out of the library.

"Luna, you did what you wanted to and mum and George are selfish for not accepting and encouraging your decision. They should know by now that life is too short to not to support you in what you want to do," Ginny hesitated for a moment before carrying on. "And if you come to The Burrow for Christmas I'll prove it to you."

It didn't feel like Christmas to Luna Lovegood but then again, she didn't really feel any more. She was like a hollow shell – a Christmas Zombie – dressed up misleadingly in festive, tiny parcel earrings and a red jumpsuit with white fluff around the top of her bust and on her cuffs while she wrapped up presents in a mechanical matter, ready for the following day.

She hadn't yet been to The Burrow during the holiday. She chose solitary confinement in her house instead, not that any of her friends respected her wishes in that department at all. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny visited her daily to bring her news of the outside world and also to make sure she was eating. The recognised how ill Luna was and were helping her try to hide it from George in case he blew up at her (not that Luna thought it was likely). Charlie and surprisingly Neville had visited her once each over the first week too yet neither of them stayed long, probably because Luna wasn't very good company.

On Christmas Eve night, Luna had a restless sleep. If she'd evere gone through the charade of Santa Claus she would most probably compare it to that but Luna never had the privilege of Father Christmas so she wouldn't know. Luna knew that on Christmas Day she'd have to face George and that evoked both a sense of fear and elation in her. Tomorrow Ginny would prove he loved her and then she and George would live happily ever after. The alternative was misery, heartache and despair. The alternative meant she may lose the will to live all together. There could be no alternative.

Because she couldn't sleep, Luna was getting ready to go to the Weasley's at 5 am. She fully washed and shaved every part of her body from the neck down in a cold shower before spending too long drying her body with a towel. She left her hair down in perfect ringlets and did her face up with barely noticeable silvery make-up. The dress she wore was made of layers of intricately patterned lace that spun snowflakes across her body. Having too much time on her hands she tattooed herself temporarily with a silver pen, extending the snowflakes from just above her knees, starting where her dress ended and letting them drift all the way down to her ankles.

Even though she had spent ages getting ready for the upcoming day, Luna was still ready by 7 o'clock. It was way too early to go to The Burrow so instead she went downstairs to open her presents from Neville and Hagrid. As she got to the kitchen she saw another present had been added to her extremely small pile. A handsome snowy owl has been placed in the middle of her table in a glittering silver cage. Supplies sat in a box next to it and Luna gasped at the sight. She rushed over to it. A small red tag was attached to it in the same handwriting as the notes from when she'd been ill.

_Merry Christmas Luna. She's all yours. x_

Luna took the bird out of the cage and wondered how this person could have possibly known she wanted an owl.

"I'm going to name you… Abigail." Luna smiled fondly at the bird. She set her down on the table and watched, transfixed as the bird got to know her new home.

After a while she left the bird be and went to open her present from Neville. Inside a small black wooden box a small white flower sat on a purple velvet pillow. A small hand-written note told her that it was a _Lunar Rose_. Its petals only opened in the light of the moon. Luna smiled to herself and made a mental note to send Neville a thank-you note later.

As she watched her Abigail fly around the kitchen, Luna noticed the time. It was 10 o'clock and she was due at The Burrow that very second. She quickly grabbed her bag full of presents and apparated to the home of the Weasley's without further ado. Ginny was waiting for her at the front door and quickly ushered her inside with a quick "merry Christmas".

The living room was in chaos as wrapping paper was literally everywhere. The Weasleys, Harry, Hermione and her parents were scattered about the cramped room wherever there was space. Luna smiled at everyone in greeting and began to dish out presents to them all, including Angelina (who she had fully expected to be there) and accepted presents in return. She carefully unwrapped each present, taking her time and folding up the paper neatly and tucking it under her leg as she went.

Mr and Mrs Weasley had gotten her a home-knitted jumper. Bill and Fleur had gotten her a small wooden trinket box covered in shells like the ones covering their cottage. Charlie had gotten her a stuffed toy dragon that heated up from the inside, perfect for keeping her warm at night. Percy had gotten her a book about human psychology and how to help the traumatised without the use of drugs, something Luna was interested in reading. Ron had gotten her a handful of liquorice wands and Hermione a small blue leather-bound notebook that Luna thought was beautiful. Ginny had gotten her a silver peacock feather that Luna stuck into her hair straight away, seeing as it went perfectly with her outfit. Harry had gotten her a snow globe with her name inside it and the Grangers had bought her a purple toothbrush. Angelina hadn't gotten Luna a present but Luna didn't care.

It was George's present that Luna was the most nervous about. She unwrapped it even more slowly than she had with her other presents. Everyone else in the room had finished thanking each other and opening their presents so all eyes were on Luna as she shakily prized open the golden paper.

The box was hand-made and carved from a tree trunk by hand as the edges were too rough to have been made with a wand. Stars painted with gold and a silver orb that Luna guessed was the moon dominated the lid of the box, her name carved into it in a familiar handwriting that she couldn't quite place. Carefully she undid the tiny bronze latch and opened the lid.

George's handkerchief was inside the box, covering the true present. She lifted it out of the box and unwrapped it so everyone could see. She let out a tiny gasp as the cloth fell away to reveal a silver chain anklet. Tiny crescent moons dangled off of it, sparkling in the firelight as it tinkled softly. Luna imagined it was speaking to her and was immediately captivated by its simple beauty.

"George, it's beautiful." She breathed, feeling her eyes well up.

"It was nothing." George wouldn't look at her as she smiled at him.

"Oh for goodness' sake!" Ginny threw up her hands in frustration. Before anyone was aware of what was happening, Ginny had them both by the wrist and was dragging them up the stairs. She threw them into a cupboard on the 2nd floor and confiscated their wands off of them before locking the door.

"GINNY LET US OUT!" George yelled, pounding the door with his fist.

Luna was just as alarmed as George was but she managed to keep her emotions under control. Shouting at Ginny never worked anyway.

"Not until you talk things over and work out that you both love each other!" Ginny called back.

Luna looked at George curiously, trying to rid herself of all emotion but it was no use. George made her feel and without him she was nothing. Ginny kept on insisting he felt the same way and now she was about to find out.

"George," Luna started to say awkwardly but she was cut off by George placing a rough finger delicately on her lips.

"Don't. Please. Just don't say anything. I can't handle the rejection." He confessed. He seemed torn about whether or not he should look at her.

"I wasn't going to reject you." Luna whispered, reaching out and pushing a strand of hair from his face. He hadn't cut it in a while but she didn't mind. In fact she quite liked it that way.

"You weren't?" George looked at her in a slightly confused manner.

"No." She shook her head. "I love you George and I have for a while."

"Luna, I-" George cut himself off, kissing her almost hungrily. Luna returned the kiss, weaving her hands into his hair as he wrapped his arms around her waist. The two became lost in each other, desperate for the other's affection.

"Oh my Godric."

They sprang apart as Ginny wrenched open the door. She wasn't alone either. Angelina and Charlie were with her.

"Uh, Luna, my mum wanted a quick word with you in the kitchen." Charlie's face flushed red and he turned away.

"Oh, okay." Luna nodded, trying to ignore the look of hatred Angelina shot her as she walked past them and downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Ah, Luna! Just the person I was looking for," Mrs Weasley was cooking dinner and the kitchen was alive with magic much to Luna's pleasure.

"How can I help Mrs Weasley?" Luna smiled, perching on the edge of the table.

"I just wanted to ask you how your studies were going really. Everyone's gone off and I thought now might be a good time to talk." She paused to flash a genuine smile at her. Luna was unsure of what Ginny had said to Mrs Weasley (assuming Ginny had spoken to her at all) but whatever it was, she was now being treated a whole lot differently because of it.

For the next ten or so minutes, Mrs Weasley and Luna chatted about school work and Luna's plans after school - not that she had any at that moment in time but it was still a topic of discussion about the potentials nonetheless. Once they had finished Luna was dismissed so Mrs Weasley could concentrate on desert, leaving Luna free to rush into the living room where she knew George was.

As the door swung open and Luna's eyes bulged out of her head and her stomach and heart ripped themselves into pieces. Under the mistletoe in front of the fire, George and Angelina stood locked in an extremely passionate kiss.


	8. Chapter 8

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!**

**For anyone interested, I now have a facebook page where you can get a little more information about all of my fanfiction work! Here's the link (**.com/annabethblackfanfiction**) just copy and paste it into your web browser and like the page. Thank you for your time.**

_She couldn't stop the violins playing that same melodramatic tune as she fled from The Burrow._

_Tears and falling snow blurred her vision and her hands were on her head, yanking on her hair to try and distract her from the pain in her heart. Despite this she kept on running, sending waves of resting snow flying up into the air as she ran. She could hear George calling out to her as he chased her across the wintery wasteland. She didn't want to hear his excuses. She wanted to die of a broken heart alone, just like the bullies had always told her she would. _

Let them be right_, she thought for the first time ever, _just let this be over.

"_Luna, stop!" George cried out desperately as Luna reached her front door._

"_Get away from me!" Luna screamed, fumbling with the door. _

"_Luna, just listen!" George begged._

"_I gave you everything I had! Even when I was broken I put you first! Then you kiss me – the first person to ever have done that, to make me feel special – and get my hopes up that maybe, _maybe_ I might have found someone to love me in a way my parents never could and then you tear me to pieces minutes later! On _Christmas_!" She was crying uncontrollably as her voice wavered and her hands shook terribly so she couldn't get the key in the lock._

"_Luna, she forced me to kiss her! I didn't want to Luna! I love you!" Why did he keep saying her name? She hated it. Why couldn't he leave her be?_

"_I don't believe you!" She said savagely, regaining vocal control for a moment. _

_There was a thunk as the key Luna had hidden up her sleeve turned in the iron lock. Quickly, she slipped inside and magically locked the door behind her just as George slammed into it. _

"_Luna, please! Let me in! Just let me explain! Luna!" George banged his fist on the front door repeatedly._

_Unable to take another step, Luna pressed her back against the pulsing door and slid down in into a sitting position on the floor, hugging her knees and using them to hide her face._

_Why did he have to do this to her? What had she done to deserve it? Was it because she was an atheist? Was it because she'd blindly followed her father's insane theories as a child? All she'd done for her whole life was try to be helpful and look after other people; She fought for what was right and she always made sure she never said anything wrong or mean about people out loud so why was this happening to her? Why was her heart the one being broken? It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair…_

_George's pounding on the door gradually slowed to a stop. Luna strained her ears to hear the sound of him leaving but no such noise sounded. Instead the door shuddered as he slammed his back into it and mirrored Luna, sliding down to sit hunched at the bottom on the cold, snowy step. Luna could feel his body heat radiating through the sturdy wooden door and her heart raced. He was so close. It would be so easy to open the door and let him in, to forgive him and let him explain that Angelina was a forceful, jealous cow and that he loved her more but she just couldn't. It wasn't the truth and her heart was too fragile to hear George admit that he was using her. To open the door was to let in nothing but heartache and loss and while Luna had suffered very little compared to others such as the Weasleys, surely she had suffered enough? But the odd moan of her name from the other side of the door just added to her suffering as Luna locked herself inside her thoughts, allowing them to torment her and drive her insane. What use was sanity to a broken person anyway?_

_Just as her tears had finally subsided, Luna heard the arrival of others outside the front door. Their voices were far too low for Luna to hear what they were saying but she could make out about three other voices that didn't belong to George. They were making him leave, countering his yelled protests with calm logic. George called out her name, banged on the door and by the sound of it thrashed about, trying to get inside to her. Luna didn't respond though. She couldn't. Her body was paralyzed as a new wave of tears engulfed her. She couldn't keep quiet anymore and the volume of her sobs matched George's screams perfectly as a stomach-wrenching thought entered her head: they were hurting him. They had to stop hurting him!_

_Finally Luna found it within herself to jump up and practically pull the door off its hinges only to be met with an empty garden where the only footprints in the snow were her own._

Luna sat bolt upright in her bed and resisted the urge to scream out George's name as she did so often nowadays. Her hand clapped across her mouth as she wriggled her way out of her sticky, lilac bed sheets. The events of the previous Christmas still haunted her even though it was mid-August and the killer heat had annihilated the snow months back. Why could her nightmares not have melted away as well?

As she scrambled out of bed, Luna found her thin cotton pyjamas plastered to her with sweat. Luckily her hair remained in its high bun but even so it was unpleasant having to peel the baby blue material from her body. Light filtered in to the barely furnished room past the curtain as Luna stripped and searched for a thin dress to wear for that day. Quietly (so as not to wake Ms Dockety who lay sleeping on her sofa in the printing room) Luna pitter-pattered to the bathroom with a change of clothes and a towel.

Ms Dockety was Luna's hired help for The Quibbler and had been living with her since July. While Luna was still editor-in-chief and made all of the important or final decisions over the increasingly popular magazine, Ms Jane Dockety did all the mundane and trivial jobs Luna didn't have time or particularly want to do (such as colleting articles, proof-reading them and answering fan mail). The old woman had actually turned out to be quite useful too. Luna never had to ask her to clean up after herself as Mrs Dockety automatically cleaned the entire middle floor of the house anyway. She had offered to clean the kitchen and Luna's bedroom on a regular basis before for no extra money but Luna had politely refused. She needed those rooms for her cleaning therapy. Cleaning therapy was all that kept her sane now that school was over and Luna refused to let anyone take that away from her. She would do something stupid – she just knew she would – like run over the hills and throw herself into George's arms despite the fact that he'd broken her heart by kissing Angelina because deep down she knew she didn't care. She just wanted to be with him, to be in his arms and to let him love her but he didn't love her. He made that clear.

As Luna let the cold water rush over her bare skin she turned her thoughts to her upcoming trip with Ginny. They were going on a six-month trip around America starting hopefully that evening. They both had their own reasons for wanting to go: Luna for inspiration for The Quibbler and to see if she could rekindle the insane ideas her father left her with by exploring the American wizards' wacky culture. Ginny wanted to go with her to research and explore the world of Quidditch or so she claimed. Luna was almost certain she was going so that Luna wasn't alone and therefore could not do anything stupid but Ginny never said anything about that. The two girls had it all worked out and Mr Weasley had given Ginny permission to go on the condition that Ginny got all 'Exceeds Expectations' in all her N.E.W.T. subjects. It was slightly frustrating waiting for their results as Ginny was Luna's only restriction from just getting away from this place where she was haunted every moment by memories of both the living and the dead. She could go on her own but Luna was tired of solitary confinement and she needed to relearn how to interact with people her own age who not on the edge of death or extremely depressed.

"Luna?" Ms Dockety called through the door. The sound of running water must have woken her up. Luna knew she ought to feel guilty about it but Ms Dockety always told her off about feeling guilty over things concerning her. It didn't matter as Luna had given the woman a new home and a job, something she hadn't had since before the war.

"Yes?" Luna called back, rinsing the shampoo out of her hair.

"An owl has arrived for you. It's from school." Ms Dockety told her through the door, sounding rather nervous although Luna couldn't fathom why, not that it mattered really as another, more serious thought entered her head, causing her to go pale.

The moment had arrived.

Quickly she shut off the water and dried herself off. She dragged her hair up into a scraggly bun and pulled on her clothes hurriedly. Once she was done she wrenched open the door to find Ms Dockety standing there with a handsome tawny owl perched on her arm.

"Thank you." Luna smiled as she untied the scroll of parchment from the owl's legs with trembling fingers.

_Luna Lovegood - N.E.W.T. results_

_Grades:_

_O- Outstanding_

_E – Exceeds Expecations_

_A – Acceptable_

_P – Poor_

_D – Dreadful_

_T – Troll_

_Results:_

_Care of Magical Creatures – O_

_Defence Against the Dark Arts – O_

_Muggle Studies – O_

_Potions – E_

_Transfiguration – O_

Luna stared at the piece of parchment. Four Os and an E. That was brilliant! All her hard work had paid off. And surely Ginny would have gotten her results too. She had to go and check!

"How did you do?" Ms Dockety smiled kindly and Luna remembered that she was there.

"I took five subjects last year. I got four Oustandings and one Exceeds Expectations." She explained quickly with a small smile. It was the first time she'd smiled in a long time and Luna loved it. She'd done something for herself and it had turned out brilliantly.

"Well done." The old woman smiled, hugging her. It was nice to receive hugs again from a mothering figure and Ms Dockety was big on hugs. Luna had been wary at first, especially as she smelled of old tuna (Luna didn't like fish for some unknown reason) but now she was completely fine with receiving hugs from her.

"Thank you. I'll be back later. I have to see how Ginny's done." Luna told her, stepping out of the hug and moving past her to run upstairs and grab her wand.

She was full of this excited energy that she'd never really felt before and the strange feeling confused her slightly. Because of this Luna decided she would run to The Burrow rather than floo or apparate. This energy just wasn't her and while she didn't mind it, she thought that maybe she ought to calm down a little. Pulling on a pair of orange converse to match her dress, Luna stuck her wand in her hair and ran out of the house and across the hills, clutching her piece of paper and smiling like crazy.

"Have you got yours? What does it say?" Ginny met Luna at the garden gate and began talking at once while Harry watched on fondly from the doorway to The Burrow. Ginny was full of the same excited energy as Luna and was dressed in exactly the same outfit as her, except in sea blue and she even had her wand stuck through her ponytail.

"No, yours first," Luna insisted. "They're the most important."

"Okay. All Es except for one O in DADA. Now you!" She grinned, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"All Os except for one E in potions," Luna blushed, embarrassed that she got better grades than her friend.

"That's brilliant Luna! Well done!" Ginny hugged her. "We _must _go inside and tell mum!"

Ginny dragged her friend into the kitchen where all of the other Weasleys sat at the kitchen table eating their breakfast. Luna kept smiling, pleased that she and Ginny would be able to go on their trip and remained smiling even when she noticed George skulking in the corner and staring at her in a lost-puppy way. He would not ruin this moment for her. He would NOT. There was no way that she would let him.

"Luna dear, how are you?" Mrs Weasley smiled fondly, putting down her wand and wiping her hands on her apron. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"No thank you Mrs Weasley, I ate at home." Luna lied, still smiling. She couldn't eat. George's presence made her feel sick with longing and she was scared she'd end up throwing up.

"Well at least have a drink." Mrs Weasley insisted as she handed her a glass of orange juice.

Luna smiled and accepted the drink, sipping it slowly and breathing deeply. Everything was going to be fine as long as she didn't look at George. She could keep her composure. She was a woman after all and she was strong.

"So how did you do Luna?" Charlie grinned from his seat at the table, swallowing a mouth full of bacon.

"All Os except for one E in potions," Luna repeated for the third time, looking at the floor.

It wasn't that she was embarrassed by her results or that she did better than Ginny, it was the fact that she could still see George out of the corner of her eye and she wasn't used to having everyone in a small and packed room looking at her. Everyone spoke at once, congratulating her and smiling – well everyone except George who sloped off upstairs. Ginny and Luna looked at each other at the same time and while Luna looked slightly hurt, Ginny gave her a look that said they'd talk about it later. Reassured that Ginny would help her through her emotions, Luna put her smile back on (although it wasn't as genuine as before) and joined in with the mini celebrations.

It wasn't long before Luna had to return to her home to collect her bags. Ginny had passed her exams and met the conditions set by her parents so they wanted to leave straight away for America. Luna's bag had been packed for weeks so all she really needed to do was give Ms Dockety her final instructions and contact details. The older woman seemed sad that Luna would be going but didn't say much in the way of goodbye and that was fine with Luna. Ms Dockety wasn't really family but Luna was aware that she had lost her own in the war. Luna realized she must be the closest thing Ms Dockety had to a daughter now so she made sure she gave her an extra big hug before leaving. She was itching to go to the PortKey Station and get out of the country, partly because she was so eager to go to a new place but deep down Luna really knew that it was because seeing George had upset her and she just needed to get away though she wasn't likely to admit it.

When she returned to The Burrow with her school trunk she found the kitchen nearly empty but bby the noise coming from the upper levels of the house she could tell she was not alone. Luna fastened her brown travelling cloak around her neck with fumbling fingers as she attempted not to let her nerves best her. She had no idea what to expect on her trip to America and now the fear crept in to taint her excitement.

"I hope you don't mind but I'll be taking you to the Portkey Station." Charlie told he, re-entering the kitchen. He had his own bags and worn a travelling cloak similar to Luna's.

"Are you returning to Romania?" Luna asked, frowning. Why did she not know this?

"Yeah," He chuckled half-heartedly. "I miss my dragons and it's probably for the best anyway." He shrugged, not looking at her. He seemed embarrassed and a little bit sad. Luna could only guess the reasons behind that but for some strange feeling she thought it all had something to do with her.

"Maybe, maybe not but either way I wish you all the best luck back in Romania." Luna smiled at him. He deserved to be happy.

Suddenly a strange feeling washed over Luna, like someone invisible had just entered the kitchen and was watching her but it couldn't be. She and Charlie were the only two in the kitchen and it was just… not possible for them to be watched by an invisible person. Luna remained feeling uneasy but tried to shrug off the feeling as best she could to focus on what Charlie was saying to her.

"You will write to me, won't you?" Charlie asked, desperation creeping into his voice.

"Would you like me to write?" Luna asked, unsurprised.

"When you have the time. I'd like to be your friend, even if we have a long distance relationship." Charlie popped the p at the end of the sentence, unsaid words lingering in the air between them.

"Then I will write to you Charlie." Luna said decisively, removing her wand from her hair to place in an inside pocket of her cloak. She knew the relationship she had with Charlie would never surpass the stage it was at now, despite how much the Weasley boy hoped but Luna would not be the cause of more anger and resentment in the Weasley family so if it meant writing to the lonely man every once in a while then so be it. Everyone deserved to be at least a tiny bit happy and Luna knew the day would come when Charlie will realize friends were all they were ever going to be and move on with his romantic affections.

"I'm here!" Ginny sung, bounding down the stairs and fastening the button of her black travelling cloak at the same time. Harry followed behind her, carrying her trunk with a slightly strained look on his face. What on earth could Ginny have packed? Luna herself had only packed the bare essentials so that she had plenty of space for the clothes and other items she would undoubtedly buy whilst over there.

"If you don't mind, I'll come with you to the Station and then I'll just apparate back here when you're all gone." Harry spoke to Charlie, not looking at Luna. Harry had been acting oddly around Luna for some time now and she had absolutely no idea why.

"Of course mate." Charlie nodded, clapping Harry on the back and almost sending him sprawling forward.

"Wait wait wait wait _wait!_ Ginny you forgot your scarf!" Mrs Weasley came bowling down the stairs, the red and gold knitted scarf flying in her hands.

"Thank mum," Ginny smiled hugging her as her mother wrapped the scarf around her neck. "I'm going to miss you." She admitted.

"I will miss you too dear," Tears welled up in her eyes as she patted her daughter on the back. "You're so grown up now."

"Not really mum." Ginny smiled, wiping away her own tears.

Jealous washed over Luna as the mother and daughter continued their farwell so she turned her back and inspected the floor. She still couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching her and she could have sworn something was just shoved into her pocket although she didn't dare check. She was too freaked out to.

"Luna?" Charlie asked gently, appearing behind her left shoulder.

Luna snapped out of her freaked trance and turned to him.

"We're going now." He took her free hand in his as Ginny gripped onto his other wrist.

Was that a hand holding onto her cloak? No, it couldn't be. She was wrong.

The PortKey Station was nothing how she imagined it. The three of them had apparated into the centre of a cavernous hall, filled with people with cases and trunks all heading in different directions. The room was all a bronze and copper colour and large areas were sectioned off with high paper screens and guard booths. On the floor a map of the world seemed to move beneath their feet, all the continents floating on the sea slightly. Large wooden boards popped up everywhere, telling people where to go for their relative portkeys and what time those portkeys were leaving.

Luna felt the hand on her cloak let go of her but before she could think further Charlie was dragging both her and Ginny forward to one of the boards, causing Luna to notice that he was still holding onto her hand. She wanted to let go of him but in all honest she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was a little bit scared that she'd be washed away in the crowd of people and getting lost. Luna knew that the fear was irrational but she figured her safest bet was to remain holding Charlie's hand.

"Okay ladies, your Portkey leaves in bay 7C which is actually just over there," He pointed to a screened of area 30 feet away from them that had a golden 7C painted on one of the screens. "And it goes in twenty minutes so we better get a move on."

Together they walked over to section 7C. Luna and Ginny handed over their tickets and their wands for identification before being let past the Guard booth. Charlie apologized for not being able to accompany them any further and quickly vanished before they could even say goodbye.

"I'm nervous, are you?" Ginny asked as they slowly walked forward, dragging their trunks behind them.

"Only a little bit. Nothing bad could happen to us here of all places." Luna smiled reassuringly, glancing at all the armed security men.

"I guess you're right." Ginny giggled nervously.

As they rounded the corner both of the girls looked shocked to see a steel coach parked in the large space with people boarding it.

"I thought we were taking a portkey?" Luna asked, frowning slightly as she tried to make sense of what was going on.

"I think this _is_ the portkey," Ginny frowned. "Come on." She dragged her friend forward to a young-looking blonde witch who was taking people's bags.

"Excuse me," Ginny asked her politely. "But we've never been here before. Why is there a coach?"

"The coach is the portkey. It's a safer way of getting a lot of wizards from one country to another inconspicuously." The witch gave a well-rehearsed answer.

"Thank you," Ginny said awkwardly. Everything about the lady was false from her smile to her voice and she didn't like it one bit.

"May I take your bags ladies?" She asked pleasantly.

"Of course." Luna smiled back, handing over their luggage.

"I don't like her." Ginny muttered to Luna as they walked away to join the incredibly short line to board the coach.

"You don't have to like her as long as you aren't rude to her." Luna nodded thoughtfully, climbing up the steps on the coach.

Inside it was packed with witches and wizards of all ages and sizes. It smelt awful, a mixture of bad body odour and manure for some strange reason. There were two free seats next to each other at the back of the coach meaning that Luna and Ginny had to hold their breath to squeeze through the tiny aisle to get to them.

"This is madness." Ginny grumbled as they took their seats.

"It's a good thing we're not claustrophobic." Luna nodded in agreement, fidgeting in her window seat and clicking her seatbelt in place.

She looked out of the window and blinked, not believing what she was seeing but he was there. She wanted to turn and ask Ginny if she could see him too but she was scared that he might vanish if she looked away. Familiar brown eyes locked on to hers and the rest of the word seemed to fade around them. The desire to get off the coach, to run to him was overwhelming but she was trapped in her seat, unable to move. Shakily, she placed one of her hands on the window, like that would make them closer but she knew it wouldn't.

"Luna," he mouthed to her. He was so sad. He needed her and she needed him. She had to get off this coach and go to him.

"George," She whispered back, just as the coach vanished into the air.

**Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chaos.

That was the only way Luna could describe the past few hours.

When she'd first woken up that morning – or was it yesterday? – she would never have guessed in a million years what would happen. The day started off so… normally to. She and Ginny had breakfast at their hotel, took a walk in Central Park and watched the New York state Quidditch team (The New York Flyers) practice for a few hours in their underground pitch. Ginny even got to join in with some of their training exercises while Luna sat in the stands, scribbling in her notebook or staring at the dirt-made walls blankly, looking for something that wasn't there. Lunch had consisted of hotdogs from a street vendor and afterwards they undertook some retail therapy to buy themselves new clothes and to get cheesy muggle souvenirs to owl to their friends and Ginny's family awaiting them at home. Tired and out of both muggle and wizard money, the girls returned to their hotel room to unwind, drop their new purchases off and restock their purses.

Letters awaited both girls on their separate beds in the hotel room. It didn't bother Luna anymore that Ginny got more mail than her. Neville and Charlie kept up a constant stream of letters between them and she would also get the occasional letter from Hermione, Harry and Mrs Weasley even though they knew all about the trip from Ginny's letters so it wasn't as if she wasn't getting any mail. People cared about her, it was just that Ginny connected with people better and had a bigger family so she had more people to care about her.

What did upset Luna though was the fact that George wasn't responding to her letters. Every day for the four months she and Ginny had been gone Luna wrote and sent George a letter. She missed him although obviously he didn't miss her. But if he didn't miss her, if he didn't care for her, then why had he gone to see her off that day? Why had he called her name? He was going to beg her not to go, Luna could feel it. She knew it was true. He _had_ to care for her at least a little bit, he just had to! But then why the silence? Had something happened to him? No, Ginny would have told her if something had happened. George still wrote to _her_. But she was his sister! What was Luna doing thinking like that? Of course he'd write to her and she was wrong-

Luna shook her head as she remembered the horrified gasps that had broken her out of her thoughts at the time. She stared blankly around the pristine white waiting room, ignoring the moving images on the dull grey posters and resisting the urge to transfigure all the ugly donate mismatched chairs and sofas that had been donated to the hospital. You would think they'd use magic to change them into something more professional or at least matching and less offensive to the human eye but a brass plaque on the wall proudly stated that all pieces of furniture looked exactly the same as when they'd been donated to the hospital for some inexplicable reason.

Across the room Ginny was curled up on a neon orange leather sofa with candy blue stripes down it. Her head was resting on her mother's shoulder and her eyes were squeezed tightly shut as her mother strokes her daughter's firey red hair absent-mindedly, mopping up the stray tears on both of their faces with a handful of crumpled white tissues. Harry sat on an adjacent sofa and stared blankly at a poster about dragonpox on the wall opposite him while Ron sat next to him, staring at the same thing and rubbing his bloodshot eyes. Mr Weasley paced in the space in front of the few members of his family that were present, running his hands through his rapidly thinning hair. Occasionally and at different times they would each glance out of the room through the clear glass doors to where George and Angelina stood. Originally they'd gone out to calm down George as he was upsetting his mother and sister but from the heart-shattering silence Luna didn't have to look to know that they were doing something else and it disgusted her. Percy had almost died and all they could think about was playing tonsil tennis!

Chaos.

Ginny's gasp had been quickly followed by a large explosion from the end of her wand that coated everything in purple and blue glitter. Luna yelped and fell off the bed from shock. She had expected Ginny to laugh and apologise for the accidental magic but when Luna stood up again, Ginny was frozen on her bed, her eyes watering as she stared at the letter in front of her.

Ten whole minutes. That's how long Ginny sat silently on her bed, a human statue, as she ignored Luna's desperate attempts to get her to speak, to move, to just look at her! Finally, with an incredibly shaky voice, Ginny told Luna that Percy was in St Mungo's after almost dying a few days previously. She wanted to go home, she said, and Luna didn't blame her one bit. Although it meant cutting their trip two months short Luna would do it. The trip had turned out to be a waste of time really (for her at least) and George would be awaiting her return. The thing she'd thought was put in her pocket that day in The Burrow was a note from him:

_Luna,_

_I wanted to say a proper goodbye to you before you went. But... after everything, that hasn't been possible. I hope you and Ginny have a great time on your trip and that maybe we can talk afterwards. Well done on your NEWTs too._

_George_

She took it out of her pocket now. The parchment was crumpled and was the same yellow-ish colour as the winged-back armchair she was curled up in. There was no way in hell they were going to talk. Not when he was sucking the face of Angelina. She wanted nothing to do with him now. She felt betrayed and her heart was crumbling inside her chest.

"Ms Lovegood?" Luna was startled as she heard her name called out. A young Healer stood at the door nervously, looking in her direction.

"Yes?" Luna frowned, looking at him intently. She recognised him from somewhere but where? And why was he so nervous? She would not harm him.

"Uh, Mr Weasley has requested to see you before the rest of his family." The timid healer told her.

Luna looked around the rest of the room but nobody else seemed surprised or offended by this request. Obediently Luna stood up and followed the healer out of the room and down the corridor to where Percy was being held.

"Thanks you healer…" Luna trailed off, pausing in the doorway.

"Hope. Healer Hope." He told her before quickly vanishing off down the hallway.

_How odd_, she thought to herself, turning to enter the room.

Percy was sitting upright in a small steel bed with plain white sheets on it. He looked awful. His glasses were lopsided, hanging off of his broken nose. There right hand side of his face was covered in a shiny pink layer of flesh which told Luna that he'd most likely burnt it somehow. Scratches and bruises decorated his arms too (Luna supposed the Healers hadn't wanted to overdose him on magic which is why they left them to heal naturally) and his eyes were bloodshot, just like Ron's, and staring straight at her. He was waiting for her to react, she could tell, but Luna made no sounds of pity or disgust. She just looked back at Percy, blinking once or twice, waiting for him to make the first move. There was an awkward silence that lasted an entire minute and while the two stared at each other Luna's mind began to wonder. Percy was always so controlled, even when George was screaming and shouting blue murder at him. Whatever had made him fall of the edge and turn into… this, it had to be bad.

"How can you bare to look at me Luna?" Percy half-whispered, disgust and self-hatred tainting his voice. "I'm a murderer. How can you stand so calmly before me and not scream or run away in terror?"

Luna remained unalarmed by this statement although she didn't understand what he meant by it.

"I know you don't believe it Percy but it wasn't your fault." Luna said seriously.

Percy just stared at her. A potion ran through his veins that stopped him from having the energy to fight back. Frustrated tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes and Luna was instantly by his side with a tissue to mop them up.

"What do I do Luna? How can I go on knowing that I'm a murderer and that I could've done something to prevent it if I wasn't such a- a _prat_." Percy's voice shook uncontrollably and he was starting to look a pale green colour in his face.

"I can't answer that for you I'm afraid," Luna told him gently, removing his glasses and cleaning them with a wave of her wand so that he could see properly. "Only you know what you must do to right your wrongs from this point onwards."

"But I don't know what to do." Percy tried to raise his voice but it came out into a kind of choke instead.

Luna started to pity him a little then. Maybe he really did need her help. Maybe he needed her help before and she just didn't know. If she'd been in the country would Percy have come to her before he got to this stage? Could she have stopped him scaring his family so much and hurting himself in this way? Luna didn't know but a guilty feeling inside her churning stomach told her that yes, yes she could have stopped all of this if she hadn't been so selfish and whisked Ginny away to New York.

"Percy, I'll make a deal with you," She placed his glasses back on his face very carefully so that she didn't hurt him. "If you focus on completely getting better – physically, not emotionally – then I will try and help you in any way I can afterwards."

"What can you do?" Percy asked miserably.

"I don't know but we'll find out in a week, won't we when you've fully recovered from your injuries." Luna gave him a small smile.

Percy nodded in agreement.

"I knew I could count on you." He said it so quietly Luna wasn't even sure he said it at all.

"Good," Luna smiled, stepping away from the bed. She gave a little involuntary yawn that didn't go unnoticed by Percy.

"Did you travel straight here from your hotel?" He asked, frowning in a very Percy-like manner.

It was Luna's turn to nod now. "Your sister wanted to see you straight away. She's been so worried."

"Oh," Percy blinked, looking really surprised. "Can you get a healer to bring them in then? All of them, not just Ginny please."

"Of course," Luna said pleasantly, turning to leave.

"Will you come back?" Percy called out as she was about to pass through the doorway.

Luna stopped and turned her head to show him a tired smile.

"Maybe tomorrow."

And then she was gone.

She told the nearest healer, who happened to be the nervous Hope trainee who she couldn't help but think she knew from somewhere, and waited in another corridor until all the Weasleys had passed so that she could get her trunk from the waiting room without being questioned. It sickened her to see Angelina among the Weasley Family party but not Harry. Maybe he had gone to the toilet or maybe he simply still did not see himself as family yet but for whatever reason, it made Luna want to punch Angelina, something that she'd not thought about many people before and even then those people were horrendously evil whereas Angelina was just a common man-stealing _thing_.

"I thought you'd run off without your stuff." Harry smiled as Luna entered the waiting room.

"No, I just can't face the other Weasleys right now," Luna sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Why aren't you with them? Angelina went and she's not part of his family."

"I have my reasons," Harry shrugged.

"Okay," Luna didn't press the matter any further as she picked up her trunk and bag and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Harry frowned, following her as she walked out of the waiting room.

"To the Leaky Cauldron. I'm tired." And she was. Luna felt drained of all energy and she just needed to lie down and not think.

"I'll go with you if you want." Harry offered. He was concerned by her attitude and wanted to make sure she didn't do anything stupid.

"Ginny needs you." Luna shook her head. She wanted to be alone. No one should witness what was going to follow.

"I know but she has her family," Luna stopped and stared at him causing Harry to sigh. "Let me at least walk you to the apparition point?"

Luna nodded in consent and carried on walking down the corridor. After a minute's silence Luna spoke, not wanting to upset Harry who had done nothing to her and didn't deserve the silent treatment.

"Do you know what happened to Percy?" Luna asked nervously, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer or not.

"Kingsley told him that Penelope Clearwater… died. She was a muggleborn. She was one of the few witches and wizards that didn't- the ministry couldn't get to her in time and Percy used to date her. He felt responsible for her and it brought back memories of Fred. He went crazy drinking and ended up at George's and fell face first in the fire. He's really not in a good way." Harry explained, stumbling over some of his words, obviously uncomfortable talking about it.

"Oh," was all she could say. Luna had known Penelope Clearwater. She was one of the few who was nice to her and scolded the bullies. She'd never spoken to Luna properly though so Luna hadn't ever had the chance to say thank you. Now she never would.

There was silence as they descended the stairs and Harry was the one to break it this time.

"You know George-" Harry started to say but Luna cut him off.

"I don't need to know about him." Her voice was shaking and she silently cursed herself.

"Luna, are you okay?" He seemed really concerned about her and while Luna found that touching she didn't want to talk about it.

"Of course I am Harry." She smiled and looked at him, praying that her eyes wouldn't betray her.

"Luna," Harry sighed. "I know you're not and I just want you to know that if there's anything I can do…"

His words pushed her over the edge and tears started forming in her eyes. Harry was being so sweet and Luna didn't think she deserved it, she didn't deserve anything. The bags dropped frm her hands and she hugged Harry tightly.

"Thank you." She whispered in his ear.

Harry patted her back awkwardly and Luna sniffed before letting him go.

"Ginny needs you. I can walk the rest of the way on my own." Luna smiled sadly, wiping her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve, a small smile planted on her face.

"I can-" Harry started to say but Luna gave a small shake of her head and he swallowed. "Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?" He couldn't stop himself from asking.

Luna nodded and picked up her bags again. Without looking at Harry she walked out of the stairwell and to the apparition point, keeping her head bent to hide her tears.

…

The next day Luna woke up to see a familiar red-head dangling over her face.

"I take it Percy's okay then?" Luna said groggily, noting the smile on her friend's face.

"He's fine and guess what?" Ginny grinned.

"What?" Luna gave her a tired smile as she moved backwards, allowing Luna to sit up.

"George is reopening the shop today! You are still going right? You promised him you would!" Ginny was bouncing slightly.

"What have you eaten this morning Ginny?" Luna frowned, grabbing her dressing gown from where it hung over the headboard. It was cold in this room and she realised that last night she'd left the window open although how she'd slept through the constant blaring noise of London City she wasn't sure. "How did you find me?" It suddenly dawned on Luna that she had only told one person where she was headed for.

"Harry told me now get dressed! The shop opens in a few hours!" Ginny threw some clothes at her.

"It must be the wrackspurt," Luna thought out loud.

"It's not wrackspurt. If you _must_ know Harry put some felix felicis in my coffee this morning which is why I'm making you come today. I have a good feeling about this, I really do!" Ginny babbled.

Luna groaned. Felix felicis… She stood no chance against Ginny in this state so Luna just did as she was told.

An hour later the two girls had eaten breakfast (more like Ginny had shoved some toast and orange juice down Luna's throat) and were on their way down Diagon Alley to meet up with the rest of the Weasleys outside of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Luna still didn't agree with what Ginny was doing and she'd voiced up her opinion too but Ginny had reminded her she'd made a promise to George that she would go the re-opening so she _had_ to go, despite the change in circumstances according to Ginny. Luna was too tired to have any real argument which is why she greeted all of the Weasley's (minus George), Harry and Hermione with a smile plastered onto her face.

Hermione frowned when she saw Luna and whispered something in Ginny's ear as she gave her a greeting hug. Luna couldn't hear what was said but she felt a little awkward just standing there with everyone glancing at her but not making eye contact.

"It's 10. We better go in." Mr Weasley announced as everyone finished greeting each other.

There was several mumbled of agreement and the group moved as one into the open door of the shop with Luna trailing at the very back. The moment she passed through the large doorframe and into the shop, Luna's gloominess and hesitation evaporated. Bright orange walls with paint splattered carelessly across it that flashed from every colour of the rainbow were stacked high with boxes full of stuff. Colourful birds the size of Luna's fist zoomed across the room, weaving and diving around mini hot air balloons, tiny flying horses and fleets of bubbles. Joke products were everywhere and the whole shop was alive with excitement. On a balcony above the tills George stood with Angelina, surveying his mini-empire with a huge grin on his face and Angelina clinging on to his arm. This was the happiest Luna had seen him since Fred died and a part of Luna hated him for being that happy without her but she quickly scolded herself. George deserved to be happy and maybe he was better off without her so she should leave him be…. But the triumphant look on Angelina's face as she stared down at Luna was too much. Yes, George was happy so Luna wasn't needed anymore. She ought to stay away, far away and find a way to be happy on her own.

Happiness was her new goal and she'd search for it, starting now. Without turning around Luna backed out of the doorway and straight into another person, causing them both to topple over onto the cobblestone street.

"I'm sorry," Luna and the stranger apologized together as they untangled themselves and stood up. "Don't apologise. It was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going."

They both stopped and stared at each other and laughed. The stranger was tall, almost as tall as George with messy brown hair and matching chocolate coloured eyes. His skin was olive and he had a warm inviting smile too. He looked at Luna like he recognized her which admittedly made her feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Luna Lovegood?" He asked, smiling as she nodded. "I'm Rolf Scamander. I was at your father's funeral with my grandfather." He explained.

For a moment Luna struggled to recall him but he did seem familiar.

"You don't remember me do you?" He laughed good-naturedly.

"No, I'm sorry." Luna's voice had gone awfully quiet and she blushed.

"Well how about we go get a drink at the Leaky Cauldron and I refresh your memory?" Rolf asked hopefully.

Luna hesitated for a moment before answering. Rolf was obviously trying to flirt with her but- But nothing. Luna beamed and nodded, laughing slightly as Rolf did a mini and unintentional victory dance.

"This way Ms Lovegood." He instructed, linking arms with her and leafing her off in the direction of the pub.

Luna tried very hard not to flinch at his touch and to banish all thoughts of George out of her head. Maybe Rolf could be the man to make her happy. There was only one way to find out.

* * *

><p>Please review!<p>

Also, have you read the other half of the story? The link to it is on my profile page!


	10. Chapter 10

One whole year. It had been one whole year since Luna knocked over Rolf Scamander outside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, one whole year since Rolf had taken her for a drink at the Leaky Cauldron and one whole year since Luna Lovegood had seen George Weasley. One year was a long time but now she could see him again as she hovered by the door of his joke shop while waiting for Rolf to select and buy a birthday present for Xavier, Rolf's 11 year-old nephew. He (George) was at the till serving a little boy with ash coloured curls, laughing at something Fred's portrait had said. Although Luna was glad to see him happy again, a certain sickening feeling in her stomach ruined the moment. Maybe it was the sight of Angelina slithering up behind George to pull him into a sloppy kiss or maybe it was something else entirely but whatever it was seemed to want to bring Luna's tiny helping of breakfast back up to platter the bright orange walls. Despite the feeling in the pit of her stomach, Luna continues to watch George from a distance, ignoring Angelina as best she could until Rolf appeared right in front of her face.

"I got it babe. Let's go." He grinned, pressing his lips roughly against hers.  
>"Okay," Luna forced a smile. She hated it when he called her babe or kissed her like that, especially in public but she put up with these minor flaws, partly because he wouldn't listen when she objected to them and partly because he loved her so she had to love him back, even if she loved him more than he loved her which admittedly wasn't a lot.<p>

Without meaning to, Luna glanced back over at George just as he looked at the door. Their eyes met for half a second before Angelina pulled his face away from Luna's direction but in that half a second his eyes lit up as if – dare she think it? – as if he might still feel something for her but the kiss he gave Angelina suggested otherwise, especially as it revealed a glittering rock gracing the second finger of Angelina's left hand. Luna's heart plummeted fifty feet as she tightened her cloak around her and went out into the cool and crispy air.

"Are you alright babe? You look a little pale." Rolf asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Yes, I'll be fine. Just get me to your brother's house and quick." Luna gasped the fresh air, her eyes trained on the ground.

With a concerned look, Rolf grabbed a firm hold on his girlfriend and apparated them both to his brother's house.

…

For the third time that evening Luna found herself gasping as she held her head over the toilet bowl. This time a turquoise liquid that was supposed to stop her puking swam in the bowl next to the vile-smelling contents of her stomach in the bowl.

"Luna sweetie," Mandy, Rolf's tiny, blonde and exceedingly well-groomed sister-in-law rapped smartly on the locked door. "It's Mandy. Will you let me in?"

Shakily Luna raised a hand and flushed the contents of the toilet away before using her wand to unlock the door. Her body was trembling so violently and she felt so weak that she couldn't move from the position she was currently in. When she heard the door click, Mandy swept into the room with her wand and several potion bottles at the ready in little vials tucked neatly into the pocket of her white skirt apron.

"Oh dear," Mandy shook her head. Her voice sounded agonizingly patronizing, which put Luna on edge.

"I'm sorry," Luna croaked. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm ruining Xavier's birthday."

"Oh no no no! You most certainly aren't! Xavier's having a _wonderful_ time playing with his uncle and father," Mandy crouched down next to the toilet so Luna could see her. "As for what's wrong with you my dear, I think I may have an idea and it's certainly _not_ an illness."

"Then what is it?" Luna wiped a stray tear from her eye. She was desperate to know because she just wanted the sickness to stop and the fact that she had a migraine or something similar wasn't helping.

"I think you might be pregnant." Mandy announced cheerily.

"What?" Luna asked alarmed. "I can't be! Rolf and I have only been dating about 3 months!"

"And _why_ did you start dating?" Mandy asked accusingly.

"Because we had se-" Luna stopped speaking and stared mortified at Mandy.

It had only been one night, when they were both hopelessly drunk. She couldn't remember much about the actual night itself but when Rolf and Luna had woken up in a bed above the Three Broomsticks with no clothes on they knew _something_ had happened. The result of this was that Rolf and Luna started dating. Luna kind of felt like she owed it to Rolf anyway. Since they'd met they had practically been dating- they saw each other and went out all the time. They'd even started holding hands and Rolf would kiss her on the cheek in the evenings when he dropped her off home but Luna refused to let it go any further than that even though Rolf obviously wanted to and he had seemed happier since that night. Luna loved making him happy. Making people happy was one of Luna's favourite things in life so she wasn't as… sad anymore but the truth was Rolf wasn't the person she wanted to make happy with by dating. The person she wanted was taken for life now and there was nothing she could do about it. Marrying Rolf seemed like her only option anyway. She had no chance with George, who was already engaged anyway, and even though Rolf didn't love her like he ought to, it wasn't fair to split him and his child up. Maybe it didn't matter that Rolf didn't love her. Her baby would love her. Her baby would rely on her more than Rolf anyway. Yes, her baby would love her and everything would be fine.

Tears started to drip down Luna's face as these thoughts consumed her and the sickness wasn't helping either. Mandy was a little taken aback as the girl crumpled up in front of her.

"Oh my dear," She sympathised. "I think we need to get you to bed." She decided.

With a wave of her wand Luna was lifted into the air in her huddled position and levitated into the guest room were Mandy rested Luna on her side facing the wall opposite the door.

"I'll come back soon with a pregnancy test for you. For now just rest dear," Mandy instructed her. "I'll deal with the boys."

Before Luna could open her mouth to thank Mandy, the other woman practically ran out of the dark room, slamming the door inexplicably behind her. While Mandy's actions were a little odd, Luna didn't really care. She felt tired, a little frightened and very alone. What she longed for most of all was to feel George's arms around her, clutching her tightly to his chest like he used to do in the night all those months ago. As Luna stared into the darkness, it was his face she saw and when she dreamt about getting married to Rolf, it was George who came and stole her away to love her forever.

…

When Luna's eyes fluttered open they were attacked by what was admittedly a feeble stream of light that trickled through the measly gap in the curtains. Through the slits of her eyes, Luna could see Rolf pacing beside the bed, murmuring to himself.

"A penny for your thoughts?" She asked groggily smiling up at him.

"Oh, you're awake. Good." Rolf nodded, the smile he showed her not quite reaching his eyes.

"Yes, sorry for falling asleep." Luna apologized as she stiffly moved herself into a sitting position, using the solid headboard of the bed for support.

"Don't apologize for that. You look beautiful when you sleep." Rolf kneeled down beside the bed in order to be closer to her.

"I don't know about that." Luna laughed nervously, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. No one had ever called her beautiful before.

"Luna, Mandy told me that you're pregnant. She showed me the test she did on you while you slept." The smile on Rolf's face morphed into a mask of seriousness, unnerving Luna.

"You're mad aren't you?" She assumed, wrapping her arms around her knees in a protective position. Rolf wouldn't take her baby from her. She wouldn't let him.

"No. _No_ Luna, I'm so happy but I want to do things right by you and by our baby. Luna, I want you to marry me."

…

"So what did you say?" Ginny asked urgently, frowning as she took another sip of her coffee.

She, Luna and Hermione were sat in the kitchen of the Burrow on the morning after Rolf's proposal. The other occupants of the house were out at work with the exception of Mrs Weasley who was up at Percy's house in London, caring for her son.

"You said no of course. Didn't you Luna?" Hermione interjected, appalled by the possibility of Luna actually saying yes.

"I'm only 20," Luna frowned, staring at the table without really seeing it.

"Did you tell him that?" Hermione asked.

"Yes." Luna nodded once, still staring at the table.

"And what did he say?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"He, Edward and Mandy planned and book the entire wedding and honeymoon while I slept. We get married in two weeks." Luna told them unenthusiastically, ignoring her friends' shocked gasps.

"Luna, you can't!" Ginny protested.

"Why not?" Luna asked defensively, snapping her head up to look into her friend's eyes.

"George-"

"You are becoming creepily more and more like Mum each day little sis." George commented, entering the kitchen from the outside world.

"That was purely coincidence. What are you even doing here anyway?" Ginny huffed.

"I could ask you the same thing." George grinned cheekily.

"_I_ live here whereas _you_ do not." Ginny retorted.

"No need to get snappy sis. I'm just getting some things stored in my room." George pulled a face at her.

"Well hurry up and get out. We're having a private conversation." Ginny snapped.

"Okay, jeez. I'm not even welcome in my childhood home anymore," George went straight over to the stairs. "Hi 'Mione, hey Luna." He added as an afterthought before bounding up the stairs.

"George or not, I'm marrying Rolf. It's the right thing to do. My baby needs a father and besides, George made his choice by getting engaged to Angelina." Luna hissed so that even if George had an extendable ear (which was more than unlikely) he would not be able to hear what she had said.

Hermione and Ginny exchanged looks before looking back at Luna in disbelief, rendered utterly speechless. Obviously George hadn't told anyone yet which surprised Luna as she was sure Angelina would want everyone to know that George was officially becoming hers and sharpish.

"Luna…" Hermione didn't know what to say to comfort her friend.

"I have to go and help my fiancé move into my house. Please excuse me." Luna said coolly, grabbing her cloak and leaving the two girls alone in the kitchen.

At the end of the garden path Luna stopped to put on her cloak as a shield from the bitter cold November air. She half wished George would run out of the house at that moment and say something, anything. Anything he could say to her would instantly let her know she was making the right choice but after a minute's waiting the cold was too much so Luna apparated away, just as George left the house.

…

"Luna babe, get me a firewhisky will you?" Rolf called from the sitting room where he'd spent the last hour doing paperwork and reading the Prophet even though he was meant to be packing the rest of his boxes to be stored or moved into Luna's house.

"My hands are full right now Rolf. Can't you do it yourself please?" Luna asked, balancing Rolf's dinner tray, the laundry box and several boxes of Rolf's things as she entered the sitting room followed by a floating stack of letters that were reading themselves aloud to her as she manoeuvred over to her fiancé through the maze of half-filled boxes.

"Can't you see I'm bust?" Rolf looked over his paper to glare at her.

"Not as busy as-" Luna stared to say but Rolf gave a lout sigh, cutting her off.

"Why do you always have to be like this?" Rolf shook his head and folded up his newspaper.

"Like what?" Luna asked, trying to keep the hurt from her voice.

"Like everything you do is more important than the things that I'm doing. It's neither true nor fair." Rolf told her in a superior voice that made Luna's blood boil.

"But-" She started to protest.

"Look, there you go again! I don't ask much of you Luna – I never have – and when I do I ask nicely but your always saying no because you're "too busy". You'd think that because you're carrying my baby that you might help out a little more."

Luna just stared at Rolf in shock. He was **always** asking her to clean his house and run his errands and to cook for him and he **rarely** asked nicely but she always did it for him because they were friends and now they were getting married. In fact, Luna ought to be doing less because of the stress it pt on the baby but she didn't. She gritted her teeth and did whatever he asked no matter what she wanted and now he'd invited himself to live with her so that way things could supposedly be easier for both of them. He hadn't even asked her, he'd just told her that was what was happening and Luna had to accept it because he'd already sold his house.

"Do you know what? I don't need you! _We _don't need you! You take and take from me and run me around like I'm your house elf but I'm not Rolf! I'm a human being and your fiancé – no, I _was_ you're fiancé! I won't let myself be treated like this!" Luna yelled at him.

She threw his dinner at him and the rest of the stuff to the floor before running to the door and racing out into the street, not bothering with getting her cloak or things. She had to get away from him and getting them would waste too much time. However, Luna hadn't even gotten five steps out of the front door when Rolf dived out of the house and grabbed her ankle.

"Relashio!" She screamed, pointing her wand at Rolf's hand.

He cried out in pain as he was forced to let go and Luna kicked him in the face before running as fast as she possibly could down the empty street. Once she was around the corner Luna thrust her wand arm over the road and summoned the Knight Bus.

"I don't care about your name or who's in front of me. Take me to Diagon Alley," Luna told the conductor, shoving several galleons from her back pocket into his hand. "And you never saw me either."

"Yes ma'am," The conductor grinned. "If you'd care to take a seat at the back here I'll inform the driver and we'll be there in less than a minute."

Luna nodded and took a seat, pulling her cardigan up to hide as much of her face as possible. She was terrified that Rolf was following but a quick glace back to the corner of the street revealed him to be nowhere in sight. She sighed in relief, grateful that she carried extra money in her pockets and hand her wand tucked behind her ear at all times. Something could have gone terribly wrong if she hadn't had those things with her.

The moment Luna's bum was on the chair the bus shot off like a rocket and the conductor weaved his way back to her.

"Are you going to be okay?" He asked her, genuinely concerned which made no sense to Luna as she was a stranger who had just given him a lot of money. Who would care about the person? Well, Luna herself might but most people wouldn't.

"In the end," Luna whispered, nodding.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked.

"No thank you." Luna shook her head. She didn't have any more money to give him anyway.

The bus lurched to a stop and Luna quickly fled without saying goodbye to the conductor. With her head bent she rushed through the Leaky Cauldron and into Diagon Alley. Without really thinking about what she was doing, Luna headed up the street until she got to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The store was closed but the lights inside were still on so Luna could see inside. George sat on the counter with his back to the window, talking to Fred's portrait.

"You're little Georgie won't take you back you know." Rolf whispered in her ear.

Luna span around to see him standing behind her.

"How did you know where-?" Luna asked, shocked.

"Oh please Luna, I knew you would come here. You told me yourself about your little crush on George. I came here before you did." Rolf laughed mercilessly.

Luna stared at him wordlessly.

"He doesn't want you. Watch." Rolf gently turned Luna around and made her watch as Angelina enter the shop from what appeared to be a cupboard and run over to George, pulling him away from Fred and into a huge kiss which was enthusiastically returned.

"He has that exotic beauty who is more suited for him than you are. You're too odd. No one would want you, no one other than me. Come back to me Luna." Rolf said softly.

"I'd rather be alone." Luna's voice broke as she watched the romantic scene unfold before her.

"Then be alone but the second the baby's born, I will take him from you so that you never see him again." Rolf threatened her.

"You wouldn't!" Luna growled.

"Just watch me." Rolf grinned.

"No!" Luna screamed, shoving against his chest.

Inside the shop, George and Angelina broke apart and stared out the window at Rolf and Luna, both of whom ignored them.

"You will _not_ take the one person that will love me unconditionally from me!" Luna continued.

"Then come back to me Luna. I need you and I need my child." Rolf reasoned.

"Why? Because you need a couple of slaves! I don't want to live this way Rolf!" Luna backed away from him.

"What's going on here?" George had suddenly joined them.

"Nothing," Luna and Rolf growled at the same time, eyes locked on each other.

"Are you sure Luna? You're crying." George noted, looking at her with concern.

"She's ill Mr Weasley. I'm here to take her home." Rolf said formally, still locked in the glaring showdown with Luna.

"I wasn't speaking to you." George pointed out.

"I'm fine George. Go back to your fiancé and let me handle mine." Luna said calmly. She was not calm at all except there was something about George's presence that relaxed her and contrary to her comment, she wanted him to stay.

"How did you know?" George asked, obviously surprised.

"I notice these things." Luna said offhandedly.

"Luna, we need to go home." Rolf urged her. George's presence wasn't helping his cause.

"I won't go anywhere with you." Luna hissed.

"Luna, baby, please. I'm sorry," Rolf started crying as he fell to his knees. "I promise I'll change for you. I promise."

George and Luna both looked at him with an identical expression of repulsion but upon seeing his tears, Luna began to soften a bit.

"We'll go home and we'll talk." Luna decided.

"Are you sure Luna? You guys can talk in the shop if you like." George offered.

"No," Luna smiled sadly at him. "I've already interrupted your evening with Angelina. Go enjoy it. Rolf and I will work things out away from the public eye."

"What if he hurts you?" George whispered in her ear.

Luna's heart stopped.

"I'm a big girl now. I can protect myself well enough." She patted his cheek.

Rolf stood up, still snivelling slightly and wrapped his arm around Luna who immediately shrugged it off.

"I've not forgiven you yet. Don't touch me." She growled at him. "Thank you George for your concern. Goodnight." She added politely.

"Goodnight Luna." George nodded.

Grabbing onto Rolf's arm, Luna twisted on the spot, apparating them both back to Rolf's house and the biggest argument of their relationship.


	11. Chapter 11

Luna stared at her reflection in the mirror. The long flowing white gown made her look abnormally pale and ghost like. The layers of make-up refused to hide the bags under her dead-looking eyes, nor could the smile on her face mask the pain.

"It's not too late you know. You can still say no." Ginny whispered in Luna's ear, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and adjusting her lily wreath-crown.

"I think we both know that's a lie." Luna looked up at her friend, so glad that she was there to support her and protect her until the last possible moment.

"It's not a lie Luna. You can come live with me at The Burrow or I'm sure Harry will let you stay with him if you want. We can even go on holiday again just don't- Luna, just please don't marry Rolf." Ginny's voice broke.

"Why are you getting so emotional? It's not as if marrying him will kill me." Luna asked, half-amused by Ginny's passionate reaction.

"I know you don't love him." Ginny told her.

"But I do." Luna insisted, standing up and facing her friend.

"Really?" Ginny asked disbelievingly.

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I love the father of my baby?"

Luna hadn't meant to say that last bit out loud. No one knew she was pregnant other than Mandy and Edward. Maybe if she'd admitted this earlier there would be a way to get around marrying- no, that was a silly thought. Marrying Rolf was not only inevitable, but it was the right thing to do.

"What?" Ginny gaped, staring at the tiny bulge in Luna's belly.

"Come on Ginny, we'll be late." Luna ignored her and picked up her wand from the bed, tucking it into a sheath strapped around the lower half of her leg.

"But Luna," Ginny protested.

"Later. We'll talk later. Please don't tell anyone yet." Luna begged.

"Not even Harry?" Ginny frowned.

"Oh, obviously you can tell Harry but not anyone else." Luna smiled, prompting Ginny to do the same.

"Thanks. Congratulations Luna. You're going to be a mum." Ginny chuckled.

"What a scary thought." Luna mused as the two left the room to apparate to the church.

…

"Speak now or forever hold your piece."

The most tensioned-filled silence Luna had ever encountered captivated the room. None of Luna's guests at least particularly wanted her to marry Rolf and they'd made this painstakingly clear to Luna. They just didn't understand. Rolf had promised to take care of her and her – their – baby. Luna _wanted_ to be taken care of. She'd never really been looked after before – only once in her life, in the summer before her final year at Hogwarts. She still didn't know who had done it but she was grateful for it. She wished she knew, even now, four years later because she'd never gotten the chance to say thank you. All she wanted to do was say thank you because not even her parents had really looked after Luna, it was always her looking after other people, and while she didn't have too much of a problem with it, she'd like to have someone to rely on to look after her for once in her life.

The small priest was about to open his mouth to resume speaking when the doors flew open and George exploded into the hall.

"Luna you can't marry him!" George protested, running up to her.

Luna stared at him in shock. She hadn't seen him in ages – two years almost – but he still looked the same as ever, maybe a bit healthier but still the same George she once knew and loved. But why now of all time would he protest against her marriage? She was under the impression that George hadn't forgotten about her existence completely as he was so obsessed with _Angelina_. He did not care for her and hadn't for years, if ever.

"Luna, you can't marry him." George repeated, breathless as he reached them.

Luna just stared. She had lost all ability to speak. Was this a dream? It had to be a dream or some kind of hallucination because this wasn't happening. He wasn't here. He couldn't be.

"And why can't I George?" She asked quietly, suddenly regaining her voice again.

"Because I love you. I have since I was 20, since before Fred's funeral. I was the one that looked after you that summer when it rained. I made you food and I bought your school books and the owl. I bought you the owl because you told me you wanted one. I looked after you because you took such good care of me and I wanted to take care of you. I wrote to you every day when you returned to Hogwarts but Angie stole all my letters and tricked me into fancying her! She used a love potion but she's stopped now as I found all my letters and all of yours too! You have to believe me Luna because I would never _ever_ hurt you. I love you Luna and you love me so don't marry this guy. You've not even been sating six months and you're marrying him! Everyone thinks he's a jerk and you deserve better. I can be better for you, I know I can. Come home with me. Just don't do it Luna. Don't marry him. Please." The words poured out of George's mouth and Luna thought that he had no control over what he was saying.

Confusion and panic dominated Luna's body as all eyes turned to her. She was still processing and deciphering what George was saying and it took her a full two minutes to understand.

"Why now?" Her voice wavered and was unusually high. "Why have you chosen to tell me all this now?"

"I only just found out what she'd done to me." Desperate, George looked desperate and Luna's heartstrings gave a little tug.

She bit her lip as her eyes strayed around the room. Everyone was staring at her expectantly, all of them enthralled by the sudden turn of events. Her hands still held Rolf's and she could feel restrained anger radiating off of him in tidal waves. She wondered why he hadn't said anything-

"Luna, please," George repeated one last time, cutting off her train of thought.

"No," She breathed, giving and almost invisible shake of her head as her hands slipped from Rolf's grip.

"What?" George's voice broke.

"No," Luna shook her head clearly. "I-I can't do this." She kept looking from George to Rolf. She loved George, she still did after all these years but Rolf was the father of her baby. Her hands flew automatically to the barely visible bump in her stomach, causing George's jaw to drop as Luna started crying.

"I can't do this." She said, turning to Rolf.

"Luna, don't." Rolf warned her but Luna shook her head.

She didn't know what else to do. There were too many people, too much to think about. She had no other choice really so she ran streams of white flying behind her as she fled. People stood up to get a better look but no one made a single move to stop her. Luna could hear George and Rolf shouting after her and at each other but she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. She had to get as far away from them as possible so that she could think and breathe because they were suffocating her. They were…

_**SLAM!**_

Luna fell hard onto the cold flagstone floor of her kitchen. Her lip was bleeding but she had not splinched. It was from where she was biting it so hard to restrain her sobs. She could cry freely now though as she remained on the floor. How could she have tears left to cry for George? How? She wasn't sure how long she'd been laying there when she heard the tell-tale crack of another person apparating into her kitchen. She didn't care who it was. She was waiting for the floor to swallow her whole and put her out of her misery.

"Luna? Are you- oh sh- Luna!" George spotted her lying there and threw himself down next to her. "Luna, I'm and idiot and I'm so sorry but I had to. I love you and I couldn't let you marry him."  
>Luna turned her head to look at him through her tear-filled eyes.<p>

"What," Luna's voice trembled as she pulled herself slowly up into a sitting position. "Has Angelina done to you that so bad that you had to ruin my wedding?"

"What do you mean?" George frowned, starting to look worried.

"What has she done to you that means that I have to be your little nurse again and fix you back up again?" she felt cold all over and her body shook violently. Anger mixed into her frustration and confusion and hurt creating a side to Luna that should never have existed.

"She stopped all my letters to you and slipped me love potions so that I wouldn't ever realize I loved you!" George explained simply, seemingly annoyed that Luna wasn't paying attention to anything he told her.

"Is that it?" Luna snorted.

"What do you mean 'is that it'? Of course that's it! I'm free to love you now like I should! Why aren't you happy about this?" George raised his voice slightly.

"Because I have Rolf's baby in my stomach! Because I've just given up on you and because I just convinced myself that I was being selfish and that I could be happy without you!" Luna shouted back, letting out all her anger.

"You still love me! I know you do! Ginny told me!" George reminded her. "I don't care that it's Rolf's baby. That doesn't stop me from loving you! Nothing can stop me from loving you anymore!"

"I am not going to let this baby grow up without one of his or her parents George. It's not fair to the baby or to Rolf!" No, losing a parent was never fair. Luna knew that too well.

"Luna, what can I do? Tell me what to do to make you happy. I can't lose you again." George took her hands in his.

"George, please don't do this to me." Luna begged him.

George took a deep breath and a pained look came across his face.

"Then tell me you don't love me." He demanded.

"What?" She was confused.

"If- if you tell me you don't love me and you mean it I will leave you and Rolf alone to be together." George tried really hard to keep his voice steady.

"I can't." Luna's heart ached and a few more tears escaped her.

"They why won't you let me be with you? Don't you get it? We love each other so nothing else matters! Rolf can live with us if that's what's best for the baby but for God's sake Luna I need you! I love you! How many times do I have to say it? All I want is for you to love me back!" He was angry at her now and Luna hated it. She hated herself but she couldn't wash away the guilt of leaving Rolf like this.

"I don't love you George." Luna glared at the floor as a tear escaped her.

"You're lying." George said darkly.

"I'm not." Luna insisted, still not looking at him.

"Liar!" George jumped to his feet.

"Really? Why would I love a man who stopped me from eating and sleeping; A man who had made me sick and cry and then crashed my wedding when I thought I'd finally found happiness? Why would I love a man like that George?" She asked forcefully, not meaning a word of it.

George was crying too now. He opened and closed his mouth several times but words were lost to him.

"I wish I'd never loved you." George finally managed to choke out, disapperating before Luna could say anymore.

Not knowing what else to do, Luna went upstairs and fixed her dress and make-up before apparating straight to the Church where everyone – Rolf included 0 were still waiting. She kept her head held high as she walked back down the aisle.

"Do you still want to marry me?" She asked Rolf, trying to hide her nerves and hold back her tears.

"What about George?" He asked her slowly, testing her.

"George is nothing to me." She lied, ignoring the fact that her heart was crumbling inside her chest.

"Are you sure?" Rolf raised an eyebrow.

"Positive." Luna lied, smiling at him and taking his hand.

"Then let's get married." Rolf grinned, squeezing her hand.

...

The next morning, Luna Lovegood-Scamander woke up to the sound of an owl tapping on the window. She sat up bleary-eyed and stared blankly at her husband who lay in the bed next to her. He was not the man she loved. Rolf wasn't George but she was stuck with him now. There was no going back.

Carefully she slid out of bed so she didn't disturb him and wrapped a dressing gown around her bare body. Tip-toing over to the window, she opened it enough to let the bird hop in. she untied the scroll from the bird's leg and closed the window again before the cold air woke her husband.

_Luna and Rolf Scamander,_

_You are hereby invited to the wedding of:  
>George Fabian Weasley <em>

_And_

_Angelina Libby Johnson_

_On November 1__st__ of this year._

_Please R.S.V.P. to Mrs Weasley at The Burrow as soon as possible._

Rolf was startled awake by the thud of his wife hitting the floor, having collapsed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Warning: References to mature content and bad language.**

"I don't understand," Rolf looked at the grey-haired healer across the desk, gripping Luna's hand so tightly it hurt. Luna herself had been stunned into silence. It couldn't be possible. It'd only been a little bit of blood after all. How could it mean this?

"There's not much _to_ understand Mr Scamander. During her fall your wife hit her stomach and the foetus dislodged from the lining of the uterus. Your wife has had a miscarriage. There is no more baby growing inside of her." The healer said bluntly.

"No, it can't be." Rolf looked at his wife in disbelief.

"Unfortunately it is Mr Scamander. While I'm sorry for your loss I must ask you to leave. I have other patients to see." He said coolly.

Without another word, Rolf grabbed his wife's wrist and dragged her up from her seat, apparating them both back to their home.

"HOW COULD YOU?" Rolf screamed at her, throwing her hand away from him before slapping her across the face. "HOW COULD YOU KILL OUR BABY?"

Luna sobbed a barely coherent response but Rolf ignored it, carrying on yelling and screaming in her face while Luna bullets of his white saliva spattered her stinging cheek.

"You are worthless you little bitch! Worthless!"

And then he was crying too, his sobs mingling with hers. He held Luna close to him, showering her with wet kisses while their tears mixed together. He apologized over and over again but she didn't believe him. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Luna was vaguely aware of Rolf touching her and she didn't want it. She didn't want _him_ but she knew fighting off Rolf would be useless. He would just hurt her more so she just let him have her way with her. She just didn't care anymore. She'd killed a baby, a poor defenceless baby and she didn't deserve to live. Maybe after Rolf was satisfied he'd get angry again and kill her. She wanted him to kill her.

No, she didn't even want that. She wanted George but he had _Angelina_ now. He wouldn't come to rescue her.

…

It had been months since Luna and Rolf found out that she'd miscarried their baby and time hadn't gone by quickly although for Luna it blurred into a painful haze. Every night Luna would wake up from nightmares containing unborn children and rivers of blood. Now Luna barely slept at all and Rolf had forced her to sleep on the sofa as punishment whenever he bothered coming home at night. Rolf drunk to drown the sorrows of losing a baby while Luna… Luna did nothing. She spent most days curled up on the sofa, staring at a wall, refusing to move unless she needed the toilet. Ginny and Hermione would come over every day to try and get her to talk or eat but Luna just couldn't. She was a murderer. She didn't deserve to live.

Eventually Luna moved onto the next stage of her mourning where she would do everything she had to in order to live but she walked around like a zombie with a glassy, near-dead look in her eyes. Rolf didn't notice and if he did, he didn't really care as long as his dinner was warm and waiting if and when he came home. Every day Luna regretted her decision on her wedding day but it was too late to change anything. It was too early in the marriage to get the divorce and George wouldn't take her back anyway, not after what she said to him.

Luna thought about George an awful lot and she was thinking about him while she was shopping on a dark spring evening in Diagon Alley when she saw him. At first she didn't realize what she'd seen until she saw his familiar ginger hair exit the Leaky Cauldron, where she happened to be headed. There was a fluttering inside her chest as her heartbeat sped up and for the first time in what felt like forever her eyes lit up. Luna's steps grew faster as she closed the distance between them and at first she thought he had not noticed her approaching him. Then, inexplicably, the crowd of people between them parted and the two stared into each other's eyes.

"George…" Luna's voice came out as no more than a whisper but she was pretty sure he heard it.

George ripped his gaze away from her and side-stepped her before hastily walking towards the shop. Without a second's thought, Luna rushed after him as he tried to lose her in the thinning crowds. Unable to stop herself she called out his name several times but he still didn't stop, not until he was in the shop. Luna hesitated in the doorway, wondering if she ought to go in and talk to him. A part of her knew that George probably didn't want to see her after the last time they met but she had to go in and make amends, if only that.

Taking a deep breath, Luna pushed open the door and headed straight for the counter where George stood with his back to her.

"George." She spoke softly, not wanting to alarm him.

In front of her George froze. His hands gripped the counter so tightly that Luna thought for a moment that his knuckles might burst through his extremely pale skin. She waited nervously, watching George who also seemed to be waiting for something. They bell above the door tinkled; breaking the silence as the last few customers in the shop left and George relaxed a tiny bit. He turned around and blinked when he found that she was still there.

"Luna." He breathed, blinking once to make sure she wasn't a figment of his imagination.

"George, I'm so sorry." The words spewed out of her mouth before she had time to think about what she was saying.

"Lu- what?" George asked, confused.

"I'm sorry for everything I've done to you. I was stupid and I was wrong and I- I…" Luna trailed off, choking back tears as a lump in her throat began to throb. She'd hurt him so much. She could see it in his face. He looked just as sick and helpless as she did and somehow Luna just knew that it was all her fault.

"Luna, are you insane?" George asked disbelievingly before lowering his voice. "You've done nothing wrong."

"Maybe I am," Luna chuckled even though it wasn't funny. Wiping her eyes with her sleeve she continued. "But I have to say sorry."

George must have known that he wouldn't win an argument with her over the matter as he shook his head and sighed in defeat.

"Where's Rolf or whatever his name is?" He asked.

"Does it matter?" Luna asked bitterly, looking away from George.

"You're married Luna," George reminded her, looking her up and down. He must have noticed something off as he then asked "What did he do to you?"

"I doesn't feel as if we're married," Luna confided darkly but she stopped herself there by biting her lip. Rolf had done a lot of things and George didn't need to know.

"Luna?" George leaned forward across the counter.

A wave of guilt crashed down on Luna as she thought about everything that happened with her and Rolf. A lump formed in her throat that she couldn't get rid of so when she answered George, it was in a choked whisper.

"It was my fault."

"Come upstairs," George told her, walking around from behind the counter to stand by her side.

"What about Angelina?" Luna had to ask. She didn't want to see her, not right now.

"What about her?" George asked, frowning.

"She doesn't like me. I don't think your fiancé will appreciate me being up there." Luna continued in the same small voice.

"My fiancé can deal with that because I need to talk to you." George said bitterly, taking Luna's hand in his own.

"If you're sure," Luna nodded. She was remembering what George had said to her on the day of her wedding and she realized how stupid she was being and how inconsiderate she must come across to George as. He and Angelina were no longer together because of the love potion.

"Very." George told her.

Pulling slightly on Luna's arm, George led her through the empty shop, into through a storeroom cupboard and up the stairs into the flat. Luna hovered in the door while George moved a squishy armchair into the kitchen area and the look he gave her told her to sit on it. Cautiously, feeling out of place, Luna did just that while George started getting things out to make a cup of coffee. Luna curled up in the chair, making herself as small as possible and she looked around the flat for any trace of Angelina. There was none. She'd only ever been here once before and that had been with George on his first visit back to the place. He'd fallen apart the moment he stepped through the door so after 5 minutes of comforting Luna had taken the straight back to the Burrow.

"Luna, what's up?" George asked, searching through a cupboard.

"Nothing," Luna replied, still looking. Nothing was "up". Everything was down and wrong.

"Give me one good reason why I should believe that." George snorted, sitting on the arm of the chair.

"I can't." Luna told him truthfully, staring at the cracked tiles on the kitchen floor.

"Luna, you have to tell me what happened? Is it the baby?" George asked nervously.

At the word baby Luna burst into uncontrollable sobs. Next to her she felt George slide into the chair before pulling Luna across his lap and holding her close.

"I- I m-miscarried…" Luna sobbed into his shoulder.

"Oh… Oh. Oh my god Luna I'm so sorry." George hugged her tighter, whispering into her ear.

He let Luna cry for a few minutes, holding her close and stroking her hair before moving her head so he could look at her. There was a sympathetic look in his eyes and Luna just wanted to lean forward and cry into his shoulder again but George held her upright and dried away her tears with his thumb.

"How did Rolf take it?" He asked quietly.

Luna couldn't answer him. Rolf had done some horrible things to her. Hermione and Ginny wanted to report him and get him put in some kind of prison (preferably Azkaban) but Luna wouldn't let them. George would go mad if she told him about the abuse she'd received because of her miscarriage.

"Has he hurt you?" George asked sharply, as if he were reading her thoughts.

"Not for a long time." Luna lied.

"You mean he did before?"

Luna winced and nodded slowly. She couldn't lie to him. George stared at her, shock and rage battling for dominance of his features.

"Luna, you have to tell me what he did." George told her seriously.

There was no way Luna would win an argument against George about this and she didn't want to fight with him. She needed to be loved and looked after for a bit and the only way George would do that was if she told him. Leaning forwards, Luna brushed the hair away from George's ear and whispered quickly and as clearly as she could some of the things Rolf had done to punish her.

"You should have told me," George said through gritted teeth.

"What would you have done?" Luna laughed out of desperation, leaning back.

"Sorted him out," George growled. "Why are you still with him Luna?"

"It's too early to get a divorce, not that he'd let me go anyway." Luna muttered.

"Couldn't you just leave him?" George seemed desperate and so was Luna.

"I'm too scared to." She admitted, looking away as she was ashamed of herself.

"I'm so, so sorry Luna," George kissed the top of her head and pulled her forward into a proper hug again.

"So am I. I should have gone with you." Luna held on to him, staring at the counter over his shoulder.

"Maybe not. I've hurt you enough." George started stroking her tangled hair as he spoke, combing it out with his fingers.

"No you haven't. I've hurt you and it's not fair." Luna refused to believe him even though he was right.

"You've not," George shook his head. "But Luna, you know we can't be together."

"I know," Luna wiped her eyes and sat up again. "I know." _But I don't care. I love you George._

"Where is he now?" Why did George keep asking about Rolf? Luna didn't want to talk about him or babies! Couldn't George see that?

"Probably out somewhere drinking," Luna tried to repress her disgust because she knew full-well that drinking was not the only think Rolf was doing with strange women. "He does that a lot. He'll probably not even come home tonight."

George frowned and picked Luna up so that he could stand before placing her gently back in the chair.

"Stay here," He ordered her.

"Where are you going?" Luna didn't want to be left alone.

"Nowhere…" George answered shiftily.

"George?" Luna only needed to say his name.

"I'm not going anywhere and neither are you. I want you to stay here tonight." George explained.

"I don't think I can." Luna frowned, looking at her watch. If Rolf came home and she wasn't there, she'd be in serious trouble.

"Please Luna?" George begged.

"No, I think I should go, just in case Rolf goes home." Luna decided, standing up.

"You're not going home Luna." George told her darkly.

"But I have to. What if-?"

"No Luna! I won't risk him hurting you again!" George raised his voice. He didn't seem angry, more protective but Luna couldn't stay and they both knew it.

"I don't care! I don't care if he hurts me! There's no point in staying because _we can't be together_! You said so yourself! I have Rolf and you have Angelina!" Why had she said that name? Why did she have to bring Angelina into this?

"I don't have Angelina!" George shouted before calming a little. "I broke it off because she used a love potion on me. The wedding invites were never meant to go out. I should have cancelled them but I'd just lost you and I-" he stopped talking and ran a hand through his messy hair, frustrated.

For the first time in her life, Luna experienced the emotion of hate. She'd never felt it before and while it was slightly empowering, she didn't like it much. She'd pitied the bullies who teased her at school, she'd even pitied Voldemort, because their lives had been so awful that they had to try and make others feel miserable to compensate. She'd only ever pitied them, never hated. She'd never been capable to hate others before. Occasionally she felt disgust when she looked at people like her husband who treated women so badly but never had she hated anyone but herself and that emotion was only a recent development that came with the loss of her baby. Angelina had stolen years of happiness from her because of a stupid crush or whatever and Luna couldn't help how she felt, not that it was important at that particular moment. She and George were falling to pieces in front of each other and she didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, Luna was aware that George was ranting and she had to stop him. Ranting only ever made him feel worse and Luna didn't want him to explode like he had in the past. She called his name a few times but as he paced back and forth across the kitchen he didn't seem to hear her. She tried raising her voice and even yelling but she didn't get through to him. Luna struggled not to lose her patience as she had something very important to say to George if he'd only listen.

Luna moved to stand in George's path and interrupt his pacing. Placing both her hands on his shoulders she leant up and kissed him softly on the lips. The action came out of nowhere as she'd planned to say his name again however her body must have had other ideas. Quickly she pulled away again, having obviously overstepped the line, to look into the eyes of a bewildered looking George.

"W-What was that for?" He stammered, staring back at her.

"I need to tell you something but I couldn't get your attention." Luna explained, taking a step back.

"What was it?" George asked somewhat breathlessly. Luna thought that he might be in shock.

"I can't remember." She tried to think back but the memory was hiding.

George watched her apprehensively for a moment as she struggled to recall what she was going to tell him. The kiss had wiped her memory clean and now Luna blushed as George probably thought that she was making up some sort of rubbish excuse. Out of the corner of her eye she noted the torn look on his face. Curious, she turned to ask him what he was thinking about when he leant down and smashed his lips on hers again. Luna hesitated for half a second but Rolf and Angelina were inconsequential. An overwhelming need to be closer to George surged through her body as she kissed him back enthusiastically. George must have felt it too as he picked her up so that the height difference wouldn't be such a big problem. Instinctively Luna wrapped her legs around his waist and somewhere in the back of her mind she thought about how strong George was.

It wasn't until Luna's back was against the wall and George's shirt had mysteriously gone missing that the two stopped, panting and actually thought about what they were doing.

"This is wrong." George muttered, letting Luna down and backing away. "You're married. This is wrong."

"George, I'm sorry. It was my fault. I should have kissed you in the first place. I don't know what came over me." Luna apologized.

Looking down she saw her cloak and cardigan were missing and several of her blouse buttons were undone. How had that happened? As she started doing the buttons up, George walked in a circle, pulling on fistfuls of hair.

"You're right. This is wrong. I should go." Luna admitted.

She walked past George to get her cardigan from the floor but he reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving.

"Don't go," George pleaded her quietly. "Don't go back to him."

"George, can you even hear yourself right now?" Luna grimaced, looking at the place where George's hand was wrapped around her wrist. It coiled around her thin arm once with the fingers overlapping when he wasn't even holding on tightly.

"Luna _please_." He kissed her softly on the lips.

"How could I leave you again?" Luna sighed, hugging him tightly. His chest radiated warmth and Luna found herself wishing she could hug him like this forever.

She looked up to see him smiling down at her so she smiled back, treasuring him with her first genuine smile in over a year. Unable to help herself, she reached up and kissed him again. It was George's turn to hesitate but in moments they were back were they left off, steadily making their way through the flat and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake caused by the passion and desire for each other.

…

Luna froze as she woke. It was unusual for her to be this alert the moment she woke up but her strange surroundings and the fact that she could feel another human, a man to be precise by the feel of it, was breathing beneath her. Without moving Luna tried to assess the situation. She was lying on top of a completely naked man, with only a baggy t-shirt on to cover her up. Unable to help herself, Luna groaned as memories of the previous night assaulted her all at once.

"You're awake," George yawned, stretching beneath her.

"Yes, good morning," Luna rolled off of him and smiled up at him although she felt like screaming. "How long have you been up?"

"Oh, not long. Only a few minutes." George's arms snaked around her as he smiled.

"What time is it?" Luna stretched, trying not to make her squealing dragon noises that she always did whenever she woke up.

"It's only 9-" At George's words Luna yelped and leapt out of the bed, scrambling on the floor for her clothes. "Luna, what are you doing?"

"Rolf." Luna managed to squeak out, rushing from the room.

"What?" George asked, sitting up and staring at her.

"He'll be home and if I don't go back I'll get into real trouble." Luna started panicking as she struggled with her jeans.

"And he expects you to put up with him not going back?" Disgust tainted George's voice as he slipped out of bed and began rummaging through the mess on the floor.

"Yes," Luna replied bitterly, taking off George's shirt and handing it to him.

"Keep it if you want," He told her quietly, closing her hand around the cloth and pushing it back towards her. "So long as he won't find it."

"Really?" Luna smiled. She hadn't really wanted to give it back.

George only nodded and smiled in response and Luna felt the urge to kiss him again. Deciding she better not, she left the room to find the rest of her clothes.

"Merlin… I don't even know where you're living." George exclaimed after a few moments, joining her in the living room fully clothes.

"Rolf's moved into the Rook with me." Luna said, struggling into her top.

"At least you're at home though," George didn't seem to be pleased by this news. "Has he tried to change it at all?"

"No, not yet," Luna looked away from George. She didn't want to see the disappointed look in his eyes. "He's not home often enough to even try."

"Well, don't let him."

"I won't. The second we can get a divorce he'll be gone." Luna promised with a weak smile.

The two remained silent as Luna finished dressing and collected her shopping bags. She didn't want to leave but if she didn't go home and confront Rolf right then things would never change.

"What are we going to do about last night?" Luna asked, turning to face George. Was it worth a fight with Rolf if George wanted nothing more to do with her?

"We'll… We…" George trailed off, causing Luna to start to worry. Did he not want her anymore?

Before she could open her mouth to speak, George leant down and kissed her quickly on the lips. The message was clear.

"I'll be back later?" She phrased it like a question, just to be sure they were on the same page.

George smirked and nodded. "I'll be back in the shop."

"Don't worry. I'll find you." Luna smiled. "I'll see you soon then."

Luna gave George one last kiss before leaving the apartment and apparating back home from the street outside, ready to face Rolf's wrath.

**Please review! It only takes a minute and it's a minute well spent!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Dear, Too Lazy 2 Log In, thank you so much for your review! It made me happy for days! Sorry I didn't update quickly but the other author to this fic was on holiday and as a rule we update together. Thanks again and enjoy the chapter!**

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**

The moment Luna stepped through her front door Rolf's hand was around her throat, crushing her windpipe. Panic seeped through Luna's veins although she didn't struggle – struggling would only make Rolf grip tighter as she'd learned from past experience.

"Where the _fuck_ have you been?" Rolf growled, pressing his mouth to her ear.

Luna flinched as his rotten breath steamed up her ear and as she did, Rolf's hand twitched too. The foul, alcohol-soaked odour pulsing off his body caused Luna to gag and choke even more, making any kind of response impossible. His hands were gripped so tightly around her very breakable neck that she was on the very of passing out when Rolf realized his mistake. To fix the problem he threw her away from him and against the corner of the table with as much force as he could muster. As she hit the table, Luna's wand arm became dislocated from her shoulder, making her unable to defend herself at all from Rolf anymore. She wasn't powerful enough for wandless magic.

"I asked you a question, you murdering _bitch_! Where the _fuck_ have you been?" Rolf shouted, kicking her in the stomach.

"I visited Hermione last night! I fell asleep at her house!" Luna cried desperately, clutching her shoulder.

"LIES!" Rolf screeched, stomping hard on one of her legs.

Luna shrieked as she felt her bone snap. Blood bubbled up to the surface from where Rolf's boots had ripped away her skin as he'd dragged his foot off her leg, making the pain double when he kicked that same spot again. Tears streaked down Luna's face as she begged for him to stop but he wouldn't listen.

"You were with him, weren't you?" Rolf demanded to know, dragging his boot across her face so dirt and other disgusting things mixed in with her tears,

"You aren't the only one allowed to have affairs!" Luna screamed as half her face was ripped open.

With a wordless cry, Rolf picked Luna up by her hair and threw her back on the floor. Landing on her dislocated shoulder, Luna screamed at the top of her lungs but no one would hear – the nearest neighbours were at least three miles away. Spitting in her eyes, Rolf straddled Luna's throbbing body and began to punch and scratch every inch of her that he could reach. Luna made a few feeble attempt to fight back but her body wailed in protest and moving only opened up more space to be hurt. She was underfed and weak from her months of mourning and self-loathing which only made her easier to bruise, break and bleed for Rolf.

At one point, Luna became delusional, imagining George kneeling by her head and crying while she cried. He could feel every punch that she could and he kept promising her over and over again to take her away from the monster to a place where no one would ever hurt her again.

But having George there only made things worse because with each blow she felt farther away from him and closer to death. When George vanished altogether Luna had nothing. All she could do was cry and pray for the end.

…

When Luna woke up she was in a clinically white, sterile room, lying down and facing the ceiling. In her peripheral vision she could see about 3 other beds in the room and she had the feeling there might be more. Her body ached all over and her head throbbed wildly.

"Luna?" A familiar voice asked in relief from by her side.

Luna turned her head to see Ginny sitting in a stiff metal chair by her bed. From the looks of it Ginny had been up half the night and sitting in the chair. Luna wondered why and then she remembered Rolf beating her and falling unconscious. Had Ginny rescued her?

"Ginny," Luna croaked, trying to speak but it was tough. Her throat was so dry.

"Here," Ginny passed her a glass of water. "The healers told me you'd need it when you came to."

"Where's George?" Luna asked suddenly. Her voice sounded slightly better because of the water but she was panicking. What if Rolf had gone after him too?

"He doesn't know yet. I actually wasn't going to tell him at all," Ginny said casually. "Why?"

Luna blushed and looked away but Ginny understood why and gasped before letting out a very girlish and un-Ginny-like squeal. The fact that George was supposedly engaged and Luna was married seemed to have been forgotten by her as her entire face lit up.

"When?" was the only word Luna could make out.

"Last night. Or at least I think it was last it was." Luna scratched her head. "What day is it?"

"Friday." Ginny answered hastily.

"Then the night before last. I didn't go home until yesterday morning which is why Rolf – oh my goodness! I need to go to him!" Luna yelped.

She tried to sit up but Ginny lightly pressed her hands on Luna's shoulders but still keeping her pinned down as a stern expression crossed her face.

"You aren't going anywhere near Rolf." Ginny fumed.

"Not Rolf, George. I said I'd go back to see him yesterday!" Luna explained, upset and worried she might have broken George's heart.

"You're not in any state to go to him!" Ginny told her forcefully, pushing down slightly harder as Luna struggled.

"But I have to go to him! I have to explain!" Luna insisted.

"No Luna, you can't. Look, I'll go get him if you _promise_ to stay here and take it easy." Ginny compromised.

Luna calmed down for a moment and thought through Ginny's offer.

"Okay," Luna nodded "But will you please go now? I really want to see him."

"Will you be okay while I'm gone?" Ginny asked, nodding.

"Yes, I'll be fine. Please hurry." Luna assured her friend, remaining quite still.

"I'll be back soon with George," Ginny promised before walking out of Luna's sight.

Less than a minute after Ginny had left two healers walked into her sight although Luna had heard them entering the room long before she could see them, making her think that the room was a lot bigger than she'd originally thought.

"Hello Mrs Scamander. I'm Healer Benson and this is Trainee Healer Hope." A man who couldn't be more than 5 years older than Luna with a smooth pale face, short black hair and hazel eyes that made him look a lot older and wiser than he probably was introduced himself as he moved into Luna's line of vision. Behind him was the healer who'd taken Luna to see Percy when he'd hurt himself at George's. She remembered him although it took her a moment to remember from.

"Hello," Luna said quietly, trying to focus on them. It was a hard task as she was pretty sure that Healer Benson had a wrackspurt zooming around his head and she was worrying about George.

"Mrs Scamander, we have to ask you what happened," Healer Benson told her, carefully choosing his words (or so it seemed).

"What happened when and to what?" Luna asked, slightly confused as to what they were referring to.

"What happened yesterday morning to you." Healer Benson elaborated.

"Nothing." Luna frowned. She didn't feel comfortable telling them what happened. She was too scared of Rolf to tell them because if she told, he'd surely kill her.

"Mrs Scamander, I must insist that you tell me." The healer told her firmly.

"I can't tell you!" Luna repeated, raising her voice a bit. Why wouldn't they just accept this?

"Why won't you tell us Mrs Scamander?" Healer Hope asked gently.

"He'll hurt me," Luna told them, keeping her voice low and looking around for any sign of her husband. Surely they wouldn't let him in here?

"He who? Mr Scamander?" Benson asked quickly.

"No," Luna lied.

"Then who?" Benson was growing unprofessionally impatient with her which only wasn't helping Luna in the slightest.

"I can't tell you! He'll kill me!" Luna stressed.

"We can help you if you tell us what's happened to you." Hope reminded her calmly.

"I can't risk it. Besides, Healer Benson wouldn't be much help as there's a wrackspurt zooming in and out of his ears." Luna tried to remain calm. The last thing she needed was a wrackspurt thrown into the mix.

"A what?" Benson made an odd face that Luna decided was disbelief.

"A wrackspurt. They fly inside your head and make your brain go all fuzzy. Can't you feel it flying about the room? It keeps going for you Healer Benson." Luna explained.

"No Mrs Scamander, I cannot," Benson replied stiffly. "If you'll excuse Healer Hope and I for a moment please."

With that, Benson grabbed his trainee by the collar and practically dragged the poor boy from the room. It dawned on Luna that it was the first time she'd spoken about wrackspurt since her father's funeral. She hadn't spoken about any of the topics and creatures that could be regularly found in The Quibbler to Rolf and she'd never really had the time to talk to George about such things because she was concentrating on getting him better before she went back to school. Sitting up very slowly, Luna smiled to herself and looked around the room. Including hers there were eight beds but Luna was the only one in the room. The two healers must have left which Luna thought was a bit odd.

She wasn't sure why she did it, wasn't sure why she slipped out of bed and silently padded across the room to listen at the door, which was open the tiniest bit but in such a way that neither of the healers would notice her there unless they looked down. Maybe it was the wrackspurt that made her do it although it was unlikely.

"Mrs Scamander is not crazy! She's a scared woman with a traumatic past!" Hope yelled in frustration.

"Calm yourself Hope!" Benson snapped. "I have read her file and we've all had traumatic pasts. All I was suggesting is we ask Mrs Scamander to stay upstairs for a while in case she is-"

"Crazy. Upstairs is where we keep the crazy and insane people Benson and she's not going anywhere near that." Hope finished his sentence for him angrily.

On the other side of the door, Luna slowly moved away back to her bed. She contemplated being moved "upstairs" and found that she didn't like the idea. She wasn't crazy – just different – and she shouldn't be regarded as mentally ill for believing in something different. On the plus side though, it would keep her away from Rolf for that much longer, especially as in his present state the hospital staff wouldn't let him anywhere near her.

While thinking it over Luna realized she was in George's old t-shirt instead of a hospital gown or her own clothes. She found it a little odd but it was comforting, like he was hugging her almost. Luna really wanted a hug from George- she missed him already.

Luna wasn't quite sure how long she waited for Ginny to go get George but it couldn't have been very long as it only felt like a few minutes later that George was running into the ward, looking like a panicked mess. Luna didn't notice him at first. She'd heard his footsteps of course but she'd been too engrossed in watching a bruise fade away on her arm to look up until he was standing at the end of her bed, panting.

"Hello George." Luna smiled weakly at him before looking back to the bruise on her arm which was all but gone now.

"What happened?" George asked, shocked.

"Nothing serious," Luna lied, unable to meet his eyes.

"It was him, wasn't it?" George asked, perching next to her on the bed and kissing her hair softly, as if he were scared he'd hurt her more.

Luna was torn between answering truthfully and lying to George. He'd get mad either way and she didn't want to deal with it right now. She just wanted to go home. Luna hadn't even asked to be brought there in the first place! In order to avoid answering George, Luna just bit her lip and stared at her hands.

"Look at me, Luna…" George said softly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

Slowly, Luna turned her head to show him the cuts and bruises clearing up on her face.

"Oh shit." George gaped, seeing her face.

Ashamed, Luna turned her head to hide her face behind her hair again. It wasn't her appearance she was ashamed of; it was the fact that she'd allowed Rolf to hurt her like this. She was not that weak and everyone knew it so why did she suddenly lose her strength whenever she was around Rolf?

"Luna, I'm so sorry," George apologized in the same soft voice he'd used before.

"It's not your fault." Luna whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

"Kinda is though." George admitted.

"No, it's not." Luna shook sher head.

Hugging her knees she thought back. She'd stupidly made the first move. It was her fault for chasing George and her fault for everything that followed. Sure he'd not made much of an effort to stop her but it was Luna's own fault and Rolf gave her what she deserved.

"Where is he now?" George sighed, almost as if it were a chore he had to do.

"I don't know. I don't remember what happened between him b- beating me and ending up here." Luna mumbled.

Gently, George stroked her tangled hair, wincing slightly.

"He's living in my house." Luna realized in quiet horror.

Where she going to stay? She couldn't go back there! And she wasn't going to go with George. Why was he even here? Ever since he'd arrived – since they slept together – he was acting like she was an obligation, like he _had_ to look after her because of their evening of intimacy. Luna hated that. She was not a chore.

"Luna… you have to get away from him." George stated the obvious.

"I know." Luna nodded, trying not to cry.

George didn't really want her. He'd just wanted to sleep with her! How had she been so stupid? Between him and Rolf she truly was screwed.

"I can try and help you get out." George sighed again.

"Just because we slept together doesn't mean that suddenly you need to feel responsible for me. I can handle myself." Luna responded harshly, unable to stop herself from voicing her thoughts.

"I just- I meant-" George frowned. "Okay... I just don't want him hurting you again." He shook his head.

Luna didn't want to hear it though. Angrily, she got out of the bed and padded over to the small square window several steps from her bed at the end of the ward. She could feel George watching her as se watched the muggles shop down below but she didn't' turn to face him. She was angry and she didn't like it. Whether he loved her or not, she didn't want George to see it either. She tried calming herself but a sudden venomous memory popped into her head. Was it even a memory if it was about twenty minutes old?

"The healers think I'm mad," Luna confided to George, still staring out of the window.

"Why?" George asked, still sat on the far side of the bed.

"I didn't tell them what happened to me and I begged Ginny not to either. They think I did this to myself," Luna explained. "I heard them discussing putting me upstairs."

"Couldn't you at least include a little truth?" George asked.

"If I do go up there I hope I get put in the ward with Mr and Mrs Longbottom." Luna went on, ignoring him.

"That's the long term ward Luna," George reminded her.

"True but they're so nice," She'd met the Longbottoms a couple of times before. When she visited Neville and his grandmother in the holidays before her 5th and 6th (his 6th and 7th) years at Hogwarts they went had gone to visit them. Luna enjoyed their company so much that sometimes she'd visit them on her own.

"You can visit them though." George sounded closer than before, which startled Luna as she hadn't heard him move. The memory of tea with Mr and Mrs Longbottom had distracted her.

"There aren't very many nice people left in the world, are there?" Luna asked absent-mindedly.

"Maybe. You are. You just have to find the others." George told her seriously.

"You're a nice person," Luna said thoughtfully after a moment's thinking.

"Really?" George asked disbelievingly.

"I think so." Luna nodded. He was a nice person most of the time. It was just awkward between them right now.

"You're more than nice, especially for saying that," George complimented her. "But where I come from, I'm fairly sure I'm a depressed, clingy, wedding crashing git."

Unable to help herself, Luna laughed. What he'd said and done wasn't remotely funny but it seemed like it. The mad things this man did for love…

"Luna?" George asked uncertainly.

"Yes?" She asked, smiling even though she wasn't looking at him.

"Did I just make you laugh?"

Luna nodded, still smiling and turned to face him.

"Woah," he gave her a small, impressed smile. "I'd forgotten what that felt like."

Fred. He hadn't made anyone laugh since Fred.

Unsure about how to respond to him, Luna stepped forward and wrapped her arms around George. No matter what was happening between them, there was still a part of her that would always look out for him because she loved him, even if he didn't return her love in the same way.

"What happens now?" Luna asked quietly, as his arms tightened around her.

"I hate this part." George told her after a moment's thought.

"Why?" Luna looked up at him, feeling slightly fearful of what he was going to say next.

"Because I have to think, have to let go." George looked into her eyes and Luna felt sick as he said the next words. "Luna, I don't think I can see you anymore."

Panicking slightly, Luna backed away from George, out of his arms. She wasn't hearing this. She couldn't be. She knew it was coming. She knew he'd tell her he was using her but it shouldn't end like this. It _couldn't_ end like this.

"What would happen to you if he found out?" George asked her hopelessly.

"I don't care." Luna's voice was so quiet, weak with what he'd just said to her.

"I do. The only way you can see me without a chance of getting hurt is in public, or in the shop and even then, it's too risky." George frowned.

"Then I'll leave him. Properly." Luna decided. She wasn't going to be with someone who hurt her anyway.

"You really will?" George asked hopefully.

Luna nodded, smiling.

George graced her with a massive grin pulled her into his arms for a big kiss. He held her a little too tightly and Luna winced as he pressed on her remaining bruises. At the small sound George let go and took in her appearance again.

"Where does it hurt?" He asked quietly.

"Everywhere," Luna admitted, swaying on the spot slightly without George to hold her up. She'd been standing for too long – she could feel the blood rushing from her head.

Biting his lip, George carefully scooped Luna up and placed her back on the bed where she let herself lay limp and closed her eyes.

"They let you wear my shirt." George noticed.

"They did." Luna replied with a small smile, keeping her eyes closed. She was so tired…

"Am I interrupting something?" a timid voice asked from out of sight.

George and Luna turned to see Healer Hope looking at the two nervously.

"No," Luna sighed.

"Ms Lovegoo- Scamander, Healer Benson has requested that we put you upstairs for mental observation." He revealed, glancing back and forth between Luna and George.

She looked closely at Hope and saw that he seemed to be slightly jealous and scared of George. When Hope caught her eye, he blushed a little and looked away. George didn't seem to notice this though but Luna definitely did and she had an idea about what it meant.

"Luna's not crazy." George snarled defensively.

"I know, I know. If you take Ms Love- Scamander out of the hospital now then they won't pursue her." Hope quickly explained.

"But doesn't she still need Healer assistance?" George asked.

Luna frowned slightly. What was he thinking?

"No, she's all good to go." Hope shook his head.

"Then we're leaving. Luna, where's your stuff?" George asked, dismissing Healer Hope with a look.

Luna blinked and watched the healer leave hastily before kicking her brain back into gear.

"I don't have anything." She told him bluntly.

"Even better," George nodded, seemingly talking to himself. "Do you need me to carry you to the apparition point?"

Luna thought for a moment before shaking her head.

"I might need your support but I can manage." She decided, sitting up again.

"What about your wand?" George asked suddenly.

Luna looked around frantically for a moment and found her longest friend laying on the small table beside her bed.

"Here," she sighed in relief, sticking it behind her ear.

Nodding, George, took hold of Luna and helped her off the bed. She wobbled slightly, clutching on George's arm before becoming stable. The way there were moving, leaving in a state of panic, it was like during the war all over again but that was over. If Luna could find her voice she'd tell George to calm down but she didn't dare. She knew better than to speak up to a man now.

As Luna hobbled down the empty corridor, trying not to cry out in pain, she tried to distract herself by thinking about George and his motives. At first he was so reluctant to help her when she obviously needed it – they were in a hospital for crying out loud – but after she said she'd leave Rolf, he was willing to steal her away from here as if her life depended on it without even asking her if that's what she wanted. She was dying to know what he was thinking, dying to know why he was acting this way.

They were almost there when Luna's foot caught against something, causing her to hurtle towards the floor. George's arms shot out and caught her from behind before she could hit the floor though, scooping her up into his arms to carry her.

"I won't let you fall ever again," he vowed quietly.

Feeling safer had she had ever done, Luna snuggled against George's chest and willed herself to be as light as possible. She kept her eyes shut tight, not wanting to see the judgemental looks of the people they passed.

"We're almost there. Just need to apparate." George told her,

Luna nodded, keeping her eyes shut and not daring to speak. She felt like she might throw up. She desperately needed to sit down again as al the motion made her dizzy even though she'd taken precautions against that.

"Are you okay?" George asked, standing still.

Luna shook her head in response. She felt George turn on the spot and then the sort of suffocating feeling that came along with apparition. There was a sharp, ripping pain in her upper leg but Luna didn't have the air to cry out. When she opened her eyes they were in George's living room again. Looking down at her leg she saw a small river of blood trickling down it. She blinked before making the connection with the morning after her wedding. If she has anything to throw up, it would be everywhere by now but she didn't. Instead she did something she couldn't help doing: she screamed, horrified at herself for killing another child.

"Luna! Luna stop it! You just splinched!" George yelled over her wails but she was deaf to it, just like he's been deaf to her during his fits all those years ago.

George dropped to his knees, cradling Luna in his lap protectively and holding onto her thrashing body as tightly as possible without really hurting her while whispering comforting words in her ear, trying to talk her down like she'd done for him once upon a time. When the screams subsided, when Luna had run out of steam and could only whimper and sob, George stayed where he was, talking in a gentle voice, calming her until she fell asleep in his arms.


	14. Chapter 14

It was like watching a train wreck – an out of body experience that Luna could only bear to watch through the gaps of her fingers as it unfolded in front of her. It hadn't been a miscarriage, she'd just splinched but it was enough of a catalyst for her regression into the state of a small, stubborn, helpless child that didn't resemble Luna at all. It frightened her, knowing that somewhere inside her was the birth place of a person that wasn't her at all and that now she had taken control of her body. She was not this person who responded to her name, she was not like George when he was mourning, she had never been this way yet she was and there was nothing she could do to stop it of free herself to regain control of her body. A helpless prisoner, she was forced to watch as she caused George to crumble before her.  
>Arguments and tears, absolute misery, this time over soup! Soup! She loved soup! And she was perfectly capable of eating. But no, her mouth and throat were on fire, raw from all the crying and screaming from the nightmares that plagued her every dormant moment. Her stomach was shredding itself to pieces and George was at breaking point. What was wrong with her? Why was she this way?<br>_Because she's a murderer…_  
>"No Luna, you're not." George replied firmly, hands white from where he was gripping the edge of the table so tightly.<br>Luna blinked and looked up from the bowl of steaming soup in front of her to George and back again. Had she spoken out loud? From the sombre look on George's face the answer was clearly yes.  
>"So I didn't- I didn't have another-?" she could barely finish her own sentence but George knew, like he always did.<br>"No, you splinched. There was a bit missing from your upper leg. You only splinched," he reassured her.  
>"Oh George," Luna sighed, on the verge of tears. "I'm so sorry."<br>She stood up and George rose with her from his crouch by her side. She hugged him tightly, burying her head into his chest. Automatically his hands moved to stroke her hair and rest against the small of her back, holding them closer together. They stood there for an age, both trembling as Luna clung to her safety rock, her knight in shining armour. All the while Luna was praying to whatever deity was out there that her relationship with George would last. They needed each other so much – too much maybe? And the fact that they kept falling to pieces with or without the other one didn't exactly make a promising start.

Luna went over an entire week without incident, most likely because George was a saint and the best carer in the world. He would give her a potion every night to fall asleep and not dream, tuck her up nice and warm and stay with her until she fell asleep, all the while reminding Luna that she hadn't miscarried and that it was not her fault. Quite quickly Luna began eating again though during the day she hardly moved from the sofa where she insisted on sleeping. Because she was on the anti-dreaming potion she couldn't take any of the healing potions to reverse the damage done to her by Rolf. While it pained them both (Luna more than George), it was what was best because nightmares only caused Luna more pain. Her battered body would heal with time and rest, both of which she had plenty of. All she had to do was stay on the sofa.  
>The sofa alone had caused a small argument, though Luna preferred to think of it as a disagreement. Though Luna didn't feel married to Rolf and she and George had already shared a bed once she didn't – she couldn't – bring herself to kick him out of his bed or share it again. It was wrong, there needed to be some sort of boundaries. And there were, for a while at least. Then at George's insistence, a trusted friend and healer came to see Luna and assess not only her mental health but her physical injuries. At the young woman's insistence Luna moved in to George's room with him and there she stayed while he went downstairs to work (a feat apparently made easier knowing that Luna was safe and comfortable in his room).<br>Other than Ginny – who tended to stop by every other day – no one appeared to know Luna was living with George. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Now it was near impossible for Rolf to find Luna and drag her back to hell, but it felt more than odd when George had the rare caller to be hidden in his room. At times it was almost as if George was ashamed of her but that couldn't be it. Could it? Luna's mind-reading skills were failing her and she didn't dare ask. Three weeks after coming to live with George and she was still busy worrying about Rolf tracking her down. Luna was almost permanently on the edge that he would find her and steal her away while George was working downstairs. With the Quibbler no longer under her command, nothing to study for and nowhere to go it would be harder for him to find her but Luna lacked purpose. She was better now, both physically and mentally but still she was treated like a fragile china doll, like she might break at any moment.  
>But she wasn't going to break. She was going to get out of bed and do something. Slowly, Luna drew back the thick quilts that pinned her down. A small sigh of relief escaped her lips as cool air swarmed around her bare legs. They tingled as she swung them over the side of the bed and buckled under the relatively light weight of her body as she hadn't stood up in so long. Luna grabbed hold of the bedframe tightly for a moment or two as she tried to collect herself. Once she was stable she let go and grabbed her dressing gown. Shorts and George's Ireland shirt weren't very good at protecting her from the cold but the dressing gown… it was lovely. A present from George to thank her for being so good and patient with him, the dressing gown must have cost him a mini fortune. Made of silk, the frail gown was enchanted too so it would always keep her warm. Luna loved it and she still couldn't express her gratitude to George enough, not just for the present but for everything. He'd taken care of her when she had no one else to turn to and would forever be in his debt.<br>Softly Luna padded through the apartment to the sound of the busy store downstairs. She stared at the walls as she listened to the many voices and dings of the cash register with a frown. Years after it had been bought the apartment walls were still the same boring shades of white, beige and brown that it had been when it was bought. Something stirred inside of her and Luna found the desire to paint reawaken within her. She used to do it all the time, particularly before Ginny, Harry and the DA. How long had it been since she'd picked up a brush? Too long was the answer. She ought to paint but George didn't have the supplies. But the muggle high street that ran parallel with the alley did and she had some muggle money in her Gringotts' vault…  
>Suddenly inspired, Luna began to move faster through the apartment and down into the store. Carefully blending into the crowds she managed to slip out the door without being seen by George. She wouldn't be gone long enough for him to notice anyway, Luna thought as she walked briskly down the alley. The cobbled road was freezing and her bare feet were quickly becoming filthy but she didn't care. She was going to paint. She was going to do something and she <em>wasn't<em> going to be seen by Rolf.

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	15. Chapter 15

The muggle world was not completely unfamiliar to Luna Lovegood. Granted, she'd never been to muggle school but once, when she was very little and her mother was still alive, she'd visited the palace where the Queen sometimes lived and saw the London Eye though she didn't go on it as the line was far too long and Luna suspected her parents had no muggle money.

Still, the muggle world amazed her as much now as when she was small. There was something… enchanting about how normal people coped without magic. True, this was a very grey world with just as many, if not more, problems as the Wizarding World but it still fascinated Luna. In fact she wanted an issue of the Quibbler devoted to it. Wizards didn't really understand the Muggle World but perhaps the but perhaps the ought to. Perhaps the Carrows had gotten one thing right about making Muggle Studies compulsory. Or not as they blatantly misused it. As Luna wandered down the packed muggle street she made a mental note to owl Hermione and Ms Dockety.

She hadn't gotten very far when Luna found herself standing in front of an art shop. Instead of a name, the shop sign was a beautiful water colour of a moon rising behind a lily on a pond. Peering through the window Luna saw a collection of canvases and paint arranged in an arched pattern to look like a rainbow. The desire to paint overwhelmed her as she stared. How long had it been since she painted? Too long. Definitely not since the war. Perhaps not since making the mural of her friends on the mural of her friends on the ceiling of The Rook during the summer before her sixth year. If only she had some muggle money! There were no art shops in the Wizarding World. Again, perhaps that needed to change.

How was she going to get muggle money though? Wait that was a stupid question! Gringotts had finally finished being rebuilt! All she needed to do was ask. Spinning round, Luna rushed back the way she came, through the leaky Cauldron an up into Gringotts, completely missing the tall, one-eared ginger talking urgently to the bartender with his back to her.

The interior of Gringotts was very different to before the war. It still had the breath-taking marble interior but the inside mood was much more intense than before the war. As many wizards and witches served behind the counters as goblins and a failing experiment with guards and caged nifflers had been implemented by the Ministry created contained pockets of chaos here and there, setting the goblins on edge.

Luna watched a close-by scuffle involving a particularly warty wizard while she waited in line to see a greying goblin.

"Next!" The goblin croaked just as the wizard sent a stunning spell at the guard's face.

"I'd like to change some coins for Muggle money please." Luna asked pleasantly, tearing her eyes away from the duel.

"Account number?" The goblin wheezed.

"707." Luna replied confiendetly.

"Proof of identification?" The goblin seemed quite bored as Luna handed over her wand and palm. The goblin sighed and poured a vial of silvery water from the thief's downfall while a wizard performed an identity spell in the background. Once he was satisfied, the goblin returned her wand and reading out of his book asked "How much would you like to change up? Your current balance is 2,372 galleons, 10 sickles and 2 knuts."

Luna hesitated for a moment. How much would muggle art supplies cost? A lot probably but what did she know? Nothing really so keeping that in mind Luna responded politely "Twenty-Five galleons please."

"That exchanges to One-Hundred and Twenty-Four pounds and Forty-Nine pence." The goblin informed her.

When Luna didn't object the goblin nodded and wrote out two copies of the transaction. One copy he handed over to Luna and the other to a grunt goblin who appeared at the ring of a bell. Luna remembered reading an article to go in The Quibbler about how wizards were no longer allowed into the vaults in order to help prevent theft. To Luna the new precautions made sense and she never minded the few minutes wait it took to retrieve her gold. In fact Luna relished the extra minutes is would take to change her money to muggle cash as it gave her more time to think about what she would paint when she returned to George's flat above the shop. She quite liked the idea of painting George but deep down a part of her knew he probably wouldn't let her. Maybe she could try a self-portrait? Or should she do something simple first like a bowl of fruit? But fruit was a little boring. Decisions, decisions.

"Here." The goblin thrust a wad of green notes and a tiny sack with seven coins of varying size in it at Luna before shouting "NEXT!"

Luna quick-stepped aside as a large blond wizard who just reeked of trouble barged his way up to the front desk. Luna hesitated for a moment before calmly strolling back out onto the street. Despite her speed, Luna did not waste any time going back to the muggle shop where an enchanted smile appeared as she stepped through the small entrance.

The feeling of satisfaction remained with Luna from the moment she left the muggle art shop to the moment she walked back into George's flat. The feeling disapparated though when she entered the living room to find him near hysterical as Ginny and Harry consoled him from on the sofa and Mrs Weasley spoke from the fireplace. Luna found it very odd to see George's mother as nothing more than a giant floating head in the flames. Her warm and plump body was missing which, in all honesty, was Luna's favourite part of Mrs Weasley as it signified comfort and home.

"Why is she staying with you in the first place George? For heaven's sake! She's a married woman!" Mrs Weasley seemed to be in the middle of a rant as Luna hovered by the door.

George opened his mouth to speak but Luna answered first.

"Because my husband has been abusing me again Mrs Weasley and your son is too kind to sit and watch me suffer. When I was in St Mungo's with no one to help me your son stepped up to the plate despite all the ways in which I've hurt him. You should be proud of him." Carefully, Luna placed her bags on the floor and walked over to George who launched himself off the sofa and hugged her tight.

"I thought Rolf had gotten you. I was so scared." He murmured into her ear. "And then I wondered if you left because you didn't lo- didn't want to be with me anymore which was a thousand times worse."

Mrs Weasley's forced cough from the fireplace interrupted the couple before Luna could promise she'd never betray George in that way.

"George, Ginny, I'd like you to come over please." Their mother asked tightly.

"What, now?" Ginny asked, surprised.

"Yes," Mrs Weasley nodded curtly before disappearing so that her children could not argue.

"We better go do as she wants," Ginny sighed, pushing herself off the sofa.

"But I don't want to leave Luna." George protested.

"George-" Ginny began helplessly. She looked over at Luna who stepped in once more.

"George, I promise not to leave the flat. You should really go and see what your mother wants." She said softly, placing her hands on his arm.

"If it'll make you feel better I can stay here and make sure Luna doesn't wander off again." Harry offered, speaking for the first time since Luna had returned home.

"I'm an adult Harry. I don't need-"

"Yes please," George accepted. "Please Luna? I'll feel better if he was with you."

Luna sighed inwardly but smiled at George and nodded.

"Okay," She agreed. "Now run along before your mother gets mad."

George kissed Luna's forehead and went to the fireplace with Ginny. In turn they both floo-ed to The Burrow though Luna secretly thought it would be easier, quicker and cheaper to apparate there instead. Once they were gone Luna turned to her guest and temporary guardian.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" She offered pleasantly.

Harry was very understanding of Luna's circumstances. He didn't rush to conclusions or judge Luna straight away as he may have done in the past. While Luna told her story over tea he listened patiently and the only comments he added on the end were about how Rolf was a repulsive fiend (or something to that effect), how Luna had done the right thing by leaving him and that should she require his help he would give it without hesitation. Harry even went as far as to express his opinion that she and George did in fact belong together, making Luna a little uncomfortable though she smiled and accepted the comment. Luna knew Harry meant well but there was an underlying uncertainty that came with not knowing much about relationships.

When it was Harry's turn to share his past he was more than a little evasive. Luna was quick to sense his discomfort and redirected the conversation so as not to pry or upset her friend. Instead they spoke of Hogwarts: what they missed about it and such. Secretly Luna pitied Harry. Hogwarts had been the first real home he'd ever had and year after year it had turned against him one way or another. Harry loved it still though and Luna admired him for that. He was brave but so was George. Her heart felt heavy without him there.

"I know what you're feeling. I feel the same without Ginny here." Harry empathised.

Luna blinked, not realising she'd spoken aloud.

"You didn't. I recognised the look in your eyes." Harry smiled weakly.

"Love is a funny thing, isn't it Harry?" Luna chuckled.

"Funny and incredibly powerful." He nodded in agreement.

When George and Ginny had been gone for two hours Luna grew restless for the first time in her life. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and it would not leave her be.

"Maybe I ought to go over and see if they're alright." Harry suggested nervously.

"Maybe," Luna mused. "But would it be polite to involve yourself in another family's personal matters?"

"They're my family too…" Harry trailed off before making up his mind. "I'm going."

"Good luck." Luna smiled as Harry turned and vanished on the spot.

Alone, Luna sighed and looked around the flat that wasn't hers. After a moment or two of waiting for George to reappear Luna stood and stretched her legs. From her shopping bags Luna pulled out an easel, canvas and some oil paints. As she set the up she wondered what she ought to paint when something in the mirror caught her eye. Not wanting to waste any time Luna let her inspiration take over and began to paint.

It was well into the night when George returned. Luna stepped out of the bathroom dripping wet and in her towel to see George staring at her recently completed painting.

"You did this?" George asked quietly, not taking his eyes of the picture.

Nervously Luna nodded and began to slowly walk over to him. George looked up at her and smiled.

"It's beautiful," he closed the distance between them and pulled Luna in for a much needed hug. "You're beautiful Luna, both inside and out. I'm sorry I was gone for so long."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Luna offered, resting her head on his chest.

"Not yet," George admitted softly. "I don't want- I'm still a bit angry about it Luna and I don't want to unload any of that onto you."  
>Luna contemplated pressing George to talk about it but disregarded the idea almost as soon as she'd thought of it.<p>

"I'm here and ready to listen if you want to talk." She told him kindly. "Have you eaten?"aHavehhhhhhhhhHhh

"No but to be honest I'm feeling too…" George admitted.

"I understand," she stepped back out of the hug but kept hold of George's hand. "Come with me. I know how to make you feel better."

With a slightly confused look on his face, George allowed Luna to lead him away.

The painting remained where it was, still as a muggle photo. Deep blue wallpaper backed a mirror in which Luna had painted herself, paintbrush in hand with the corner of the canvas just visible. A look of pure concentration was reflected in her blind eyes as she attempted to catch every little detail of herself and the objects on the small oak table under the mirror. A handful of puking pastilles in their luminous green packets had been carelessly tossed at the foot of a tall glass vase holding roses that constantly changed from orange to purple. A stack of yellowing-parchment envelopes perched on the corner of the table, the top one bearing the Hogwarts crest.

To most other people it was nothing special but George recognised himself and though he didn't want to admit it Fred too in the items on the table, just as Luna had intended.


	16. Chapter 16

After Luna began to paint again the rest of her life just seemed to fall into place. She began writing odd little articles for the Quibbler again, experimented with magic and cooking (something that greatly amused George) and was the happiest she'd ever been in her life. The bright enthusiasm she constantly greeted George with was more suited to a perky teenager than a young adult but George never complained and Luna could not help herself. She was _free._

Free to write, paint, cook and kiss George as passionately as she wanted. She was free to lead those kisses to something more if she wanted to and most of the time she did. It was the abuse of this newly found freedom and the ferocity of unfamiliar desires that resulted in Luna's second pregnancy.

Months of joyful behaviour had passed before the morning cheer was replaced by George waking up to the sound of Luna being sick in the bathroom. She'd hidden the fact she'd been experiencing cramps from him for weeks and hadn't even noticed that she'd stopped having periods for at least two months. After a week of non-stop morning sickness these facts were revealed to a terrified George and a pregnancy test was bought from the Potions Store down the Alley.

"I want you to take it," George told Luna when he returned with it. "Just to be safe. Please?"

"Of course," Luna rose from the sofa and kissed him on the cheek before picking up the instruction booklet and reading. After a moment or two she looked at George. "The liquid starts off clear. I have to put a few drops of blood in it and it will go green if I'm- if I'm pregnant and stay red if I'm not."

George squirmed a little. "I don't like the idea of you cutting yourself."

"Look away then." Luna told him, picking up her wand.

Instead of looking away, George hugged Luna from behind and kissed the top of her head as she made a slashing motion with her wand over her right hand. A shallow cut appeared, blood welling to its surface. Carefully, she squeezed some of it into the tiny bell-shaped jar before waving her wand over her hand again. This time the small wound healed, not leaving a single trace of its existence.

"A watched cauldron never boils." Luna muttered. Picking up the tiny jar she moved it into the bathroom where they couldn't see it. "We need to leave it for a few minutes so why don't you put on something more comfortable than your suit while I clear up my mess?" Luna gestured to the incomplete watercolour painting of Diagon Alley as seen through the living room window.

"Yes, of course." George's voice was hollow as he shuffled blindly to their bedroom.

Luna packed away her things deliberately slowly to ensure she didn't rush to the potion too early. There was a horrible sickening feeling in her stomach and a metallic taste in her mouth. If she was pregnant again– if she miscarried this one too- Would George turn on her? Would she turn on herself? She couldn't. It was too much. She didn't want it. She didn't-

"Luna," George's voice broke behind her. Slowly, Luna turned around and stared in join terror at the cloudy green liquid in the jar.

Luna's legs buckled out beneath her as she crashed to the floor. She didn't cry or even make a sound as she stared at her own stomach. She should have been happy, she knew that but she couldn't be. Another miscarriage would send her off the edge, she was sure of it. Luna wasn't ready to have children. She had hardly lived yet and now her new-found freedom would be taken away forever.

"Luna?" George's croak shattered the silence around them as he knelt in front of her.

"Yes George?" Her voice wavered as she met his eyes.

"Luna," he took a deep breath. "We'll go to St Mungos and get extra tests done but I think we both know what the Healers will say. And I know- I know things won't be… conventional but I don't care. I love you and I want you to stay with me. If we work together we can be good parents. I know it. You're a natural mother and with some help I can be the man that you deserve. But if it's not meant to be, I _promise_ I would never even consider taking it out on you. You have to know this Luna. You have to understand that even though I'm terrified I want this Luna. I want to be with you and start a family. I want to give you everything Luna and our child too."

Luna's head ached and the room span as thoughts raged inside her. She wanted to run or scream or cry but that wasn't her. George was perfect. He knew exactly what to say to make her feel better about them being together but they were both damaged, perhaps irreversibly so, and she was still married. How could she let a child grow up with parents like them? Maybe before she would have been a natural parent but whoever Luna Lovegood used to be before the war was lost. Her beliefs and her curiosity died with her father. True, she still didn't care about what people thought of her but what did that matter when she was a prisoner? First it was by George who needed her to recover from his traumatic experiences, then Rolf who was just abusive and selfish and now George again. She couldn't raise a child this way! The last time she'd left the flat was all those months ago to get art supplies! Ever since Hermione, Ginny and even Verity from downstairs "gifted" them to her so that she wouldn't have to go outside. Soon enough she'd have a baby which would only be an incentive to keep her indoors. All of this supposed new-found freedom was a lie to make Luna _think _she had control when the truth was that the men in her life still controlled her. George would have an extra firm hand on her too as father to her baby. She had to get out and run while she still could.

What was she thinking? Luna loved George! He was kind and cared for her when no one else would. He was just trying to protect her and she'd never even stood up or asked to go out. There had to be a compromise, a middle ground. All she had to do was ask. Luna was not a prisoner to the men; she was a prisoner to herself. She _was_ in control and she and George could be happy. They just needed to talk it all out. She needed to tell George what she wanted because waiting for him to ask or even guess was not going to get her anywhere.

"I want to go to Romania." Luna announced quietly as she thought about the first thing she wanted to do.

"I want to go to Romania and ride a dragon." Luna repeated.

"Why?" George tried to hide his smile because it didn't seem appropriate to laugh at Luna's absurd request.

"I want to go outside a live a little before you treat me like a phoenix egg." Luna explained calmly. "I want to do something with my life before the baby comes and the first thing I want to do is ride a dragon."

"Luna, I…" George trailed off as he saw the determined look in her eye. Did he know that if he denied her Luna would run off and do it anyway? He must have because he seemed to change his mind. "I'll write to Charlie after dinner."

"Thank you George," She leaned forward and kissed him before standing up and etching her cloak.

"Where are you going?" George jumped up, alarmed.

"The bank and then Flourish and Blotts." Luna decided, returning to the living room.

"Why?" George followed her down the stairs and into the shop below.

"There are a couple of things I'm curious about." Luna called before entering the Alley alone.


	17. Chapter 17

In the flat above Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes there was a rare moment of pure silence. Not yet 7AM, the house was at a complete standstill whilst everyone slept. The apartment and its inhabitants had changed a lot in the year since Luna found out she was pregnant: Books about all sorts of things were stacked on tables all over the apartment, an array of bookmarks every shade of the rainbow poking out at various places depending on where Luna had taken up a new interest or not found the time to finish reading it; Photographs were pinned to every available wall space cataloguing the lives of Luna and George since that fateful day a year ago. They were even in chronological order, starting with a picture of Luna on the back of a Chinese Fireball in Romania. The more noticeable pictures included Luna and George camping in a Swedish forest during a hunt for the ever-elusive Crumple-Horned Snorkack, Luna at about 4 months pregnant on top of a mountain, the return to The Pyramids with Bill, Fleur and little Victoire whilst Luna was about 6 months pregnant and Luna and George sitting on the shoulders of Giants not long before baby Freddie was born. Pale and ginger like his father, Freddie had been born incredibly early in the morning in late April. There were more pictures of him around the apartment than his parents' adventures, despite the fact that he was only a few months old. Luna and George were getting very handy with the camera Percy had given them for some unexplained reason when George and Luna first broke the news to everyone at The Burrow. Currently it was perched precariously on a side table next to a stuffed toy dragon.

So many teddies – not just dragons but owls and bears too – littered the floor of Luna and George's flat. Baby bottles were washing themselves in the sink in the kitchen and an invisible hand ironed a mountain of freshly laundered clothes in the far corner of the living room. Luna was fast asleep on the sofa, her head lolling the face the wall whilst her wand was loosely gripped in her left hand. Freddie slept peacefully on her chest, mirroring his mother except instead of a wand a grubby old Gryffindor tie was clenched tightly in his tiny fist.

A yawn from the bedroom broke the silent spell over the house as George stretched in his empty bed and woke up. Before long his shuffling footsteps could be heard as he wandered sleepily down the hall and into the living room. Immediately his eyes locked on Freddie and Luna. A sleepy smile lit up his face as he tip-toed over and kissed them both on the head. Mother and son stirred simultaneously, Freddie waking while Luna slept. Carefully, George picked up his gurgling son and held him close by way of a silent morning greeting before carrying him into the kitchen to get their morning routine started.

When Luna finally awoke, the first thing she did was check that Freddie was still there. Her chest felt too light which sparked immediate panic. Sitting bolt upright, she checked the floor and then leapt up to make sure the baby-gate guarding the stairs to the storeroom was still shut. It was but neither Freddie nor George were anywhere in sight. Luna bit her lip and fought hard to stay calm as she rushed into the bathroom which was also empty.

"George?" Luna was unable to contain her panicked cry as she flew down the hall to their room.

Bursting into the room, Luna let out a sigh of relief as she saw George feeding Freddie from a bottle on the bed. Resting against the door frame, Luna allowed herself to slowly sink to the floor as her head turned all fuzzy.

"Luna, are you okay?" George's voice sounded distant as Luna's eyes fluttered closed.

"I'm fine," she lied. "I just panicked when I couldn't find the baby."

"I'm sorry," Luna didn't see George's frown as her eyes were still closed. "I didn't want him to wake you up."

Luna felt George's hand stroke her face gently. There was a moment when he stopped but afterwards her son was safely back in her arms.

"Better?" George asked as Luna's breathing normalised (not that she had realised it was off to begin with).

"Yes," Luna nodded and kissed Freddie on his soft forehead. "Sorry."

"What have you got to be sorry for?" George chuckled as her brushed some hair off of her face. She didn't miss the small sigh as he did so. Luna knew better than to ask by now. He'd been doing it for months and it was always for the same reason. George wanted to marry Luna. He'd told her when they first went to Romania. The problem was that Luna was still technically married to Rolf and they didn't know how to approach getting him to agree to a divorce. Being private people they felt unable to turn to their friends and were left to deal with the dilemma on their own. Luna didn't think marriage was necessary as she was closer to George than anyone else and it was only a legal contract. Despite her feelings, which she had voiced on multiple occasions, George still wanted the satisfaction of calling Luna his wife but discussions only ever ended with George storming out in a rage to visit his twin's grave until he calmed down.

"Are we going to visit Fred today?" Luna asked quietly, changing the subject.

"Maybe later," George replied tightly, standing up and stretching. "I've got a lot of work to do today."

"Oh, okay." Luna nodded. She watched from the floor as George began to busy himself with getting dressed in an orange suit and purple tie. Tentatively, she stood up and placed the baby in his cot. George didn't say a word as she crept closer to him but smiled as she turned down his collar and smoothed his tie. "I'll bring you down breakfast soon."

"Thanks. I'll see you soon then." He kissed her lightly on the lips.

When he pulled away Luna heard that small sigh again and deflated a bit inside. She was trying, she really was. Why couldn't he see that?

George paused for a moment in the doorway of the room. He looked at Luna, opened his mouth then closed it again and left the unspoken words hanging in the air. Turning her back, Luna picked up Freddie and carried him into the living room. Setting him in his play pen, Luna smiled fondly at her son who looked extraordinarily like his father and uncle. A tuft of ginger hair was sprouting across his head and Luna whilst he smiled in the way that babies do, Luna had the sneaking suspicion that Baby Freddie grinned and giggled to himself whilst her back was turned. At least he was a happy baby, Luna thought to herself as she drifted into the kitchen, not like his parents.

Over the past year Luna had learnt that she much preferred making breakfast by hand rather than magic. It gave her something to concentrate on which was good. Her mind hated being idle. That morning Luna was concentrating so much that she didn't hear the knock at the door until the caller was hammering so loud the door might have broken. Startled, Luna ran over and threw the door open. A gasp escaped her lips as she saw Rolf looming over her.

"_Petrificus Totalus_."


	18. Chapter 18

When Luna had been held hostage at the Malfoy Manor one of the only things that kept her going was the presence of Mr Ollivander. He had been down in the dark and the damp for so much longer than she had and he was so sick. She had tried her best to nurse him but they had nothing: no wands, barely any food and a single tin bucket of icy water to wash with once every few days. She tried though which was the important thing. She tried and it saved her from going insane because she had purpose which was all Luna ever seemed to need in life.

Once of the worst things about full boy-bind curse is that despite being paralyzed you can still hear and see and think. When she had opened the door to George's flat what felt like years ago the spell had hit her square in the chest instantly. Her wand lay abandoned on the sofa next to Freddie in his play pen who stared as his mother fell backwards. Luna could hear Freddie start to whimper and screamed internally for George though he was distracted downstairs in the shop. Her baby should not have to see this, whatever 'this' turned out to be. Even if he was too young to remember it was not right. She couldn't see him though. She so desperately wanted to meet his eyes, to give her soon some sort of final look to let him know everything would be okay. It wouldn't be okay. She knew that but sometimes parents must lie to their children to protect them. She couldn't protect her son then.

Rolf, to Luna's surprise, ignored the child. She expected him to go over and sneer. She thought he might hurt him and call him a bastard because that is what he was. Fortunately he only had eyes for Luna and once she was down he picked her up and apparated away.

Luna's only thoughts as the world around her vanished was that she was going to break free and she was going to get back to her family. Rolf was an angry drunk but not a powerful one. If the wands were removed from the equation he may still be bigger than her and stronger but she was sober and able to make better judgements than him. It might not have been much but it was a plan.

Only, as Rolf squeezed her tight there was no trace of alcohol on him. His scent was not the usual stale firewhisky but soap of all things. Unlike how she remembered he was actually steady on his feet as he dragged her across the rolling hills of a place unfamiliar to Luna and towards a small stone cottage. Ivy covered the walls and the thatched roof has massive holes in it. The window panes were shattered and the paint peeled off the frames. There was no garden, no signpost, nothing at all. They could be anywhere but there was nowhere for miles. If Luna was to run she'd have to try and apparate without a wand because running would get her nowhere.

When they arrived at the door which appeared to be falling off of its hinges the façade melted away and Luna saw the cottage for what it truly was: her prison in the form of a fairytale cottage. The ruined exterior had never actually been destroyed in the first place.

"No one will think to look for us here." Rolf muttered, kicking open the door.

The interior of the house was as minimalist as the exterior. When you first entered the cottage you arrived in the kitchen which consisted of five cupboards, a stove and a sink. There was a rickety round table with two spindly wooden chairs under it and a fresh new candle placed in the centre. To the left of the room was a single squashy armchair that reclined with another table slightly smaller than the first next to it that held a radio, a folded newspaper and a pipe. A small desk had been shoved into the farthest corner of the room under a single shelf that was weighed down with books. A set of wooden stairs led up into the roof and absolute darkness and there was a trap door placed strategically underneath the armchair.

To anyone entering the place for the first time they may think nothing of it however Luna saw something straight away that made her blood turn cold. There were metal rings fixed to the walls and the floor strategically around the room. One a foot in front of the stove, one on the wall behind one of the dining chairs, one on the trap door and one to the right of the desk. Everything was bolted down too. Not in the conventional muggle sense but there was the distinct smell of a permanent sticking charm that let Luna know she would not be overturning any tables or throwing any chairs in self-defence should a fight break out.

"My darling wife, how I have missed you so," Rolf crooned in her ear, stroking the side of her neck with the tips of his fingers.

Luna's skin crawled. Repulsed by his touch but still frozen she had no choice but to endure his sickening taunts. Rolf sniffed her hair and kissed the crook of her neck. His fingers trailed down her side with a feather-light touch and his arms held her tight as he pressed himself into her back.

"I have a present for you to entice you to stay with me for a while." Rolf murmured. He released her and with a wave of his wand and a silent incantation Luna regained control of her body.

Without a moment's hesitation Luna darted around Rolf but he grabbed a fist full of her hair and dragged her away from the door.

"NO! NO!" He screamed, hurling her to the floor. "YOU ARE _NOT_ LEAVING!"

Luna said nothing but glared up at Rolf. She tried to stand up but when she did he slapped her across the face with the back of his hand and she sprawled back onto the floor. Luna could taste the blood in her mouth and feel the warmth of the mark springing to life on her cheek.

"We are going to stay here until you've learnt your lesson. You will be a good wife and now you will open your present and be thankful to your wonderful husband for giving it to you." Rolf hissed, crouching down in front of her.

From inside his cloak Rolf pulled out a small white box with a red ribbon on it. As he did so Luna threw herself at him. The pair toppled over and a brawl broke outon the floor. The present went skittering across the floor as Luna punched Rolf in the throat. His fist slammed into her gut sending a wave of pain through her but Luna countered by kneeing him between the legs. Rolf howled in pain and rolled away. Scrambling up, Luna flung herself out of the door and ran as fast as she could away from the cottage. Once she was a fair distance away she turned on the spot and apparated for the first time in her life without a wand.

The feeling of being sucked into a tube made her want to scream but Luna kept her mouth shut tight as she could. With a thunk Luna crumpled to the floor inside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, just in front of the counter. As usual it was fairly busy but the normal collective babble of voices ceased as she dropped. Blood trickled down Luna's face from where Rolf had scratched her just above the eye but she didn't care. She had to move. Had to get to George. George. George. Where was he? Her eyes searched frantically for him. Where? There!

A look of horror crossed George's face as he turned around from stocking shelves to see the cause of the silence. Instantly he dropped everything and began to run to her but it was already too late. Luna felt a hand on her collar and she screamed as Rolf snatched her back and twisted on the spot. There was excruciating pain as Luna felt herself splinch and she cried out despite herself. All the air was sucked out of her lungs so when they crashed to the Earth back at that isolated nightmare cottage Luna was gasping for breath.

"You little bitch. Didn't you think I'd know what you'd do? You're so predictable." Rolf spat.

She knew she was only making things worse for herself but Luna struggled the entire way back to her prison. She dug her heels in the dirt, clawed at Rolf but he was now impervious to her attempts. This time when he kicked open the door it truly did fall off its hinges but he didn't give a damn. With one hand clutching a fist of her hair Rolf threw open the trap door and tossed Luna into the basement. He yelled at her and obediently she rolled out of the way so that he could jump down after her. Landing on his feet Rolf kicked Luna for good measure and dragged her over to a far corner. Once more he produced the present but this time he didn't bother with the charade. Tearing it open he took out the iron collar and clamped it around Luna's neck. There was another ring on the wall which he locked the chain to using a spell Luna had never heard of.

Once he was done Rolf grabbed Luna by the ring on her collar and dragged her up so she was standing before him. With a violent jerk he pulled her towards him and kissed her roughly on the mouth. When she resisted he thumped her on the head and she fell to the floor again. Uncaring, unsatisfied, Rolf turned and walked to the exit. Using a small, retractable ladder he climbed up and slammed the door closed behind him, leaving Luna alone in the dark.


	19. Chapter 19

Luna lay bloody and beaten on the cellar floor. The cold stone soothed the burning pain above her left ear when Rolf had pulled out a handful of her hair where he was too violent with her. Her trousers remained by her ankles where he had left them and now Luna tried her best to shimmy them up her filthy legs to feel more comfortable. Her head throbbed something fierce from where it'd been slammed against the wall and her collar felt like it was choking her. Luna wriggled closer to the wall and the ring, slackening the pull on the chain but the choking feeling didn't ease.  
>She was so tired. Pain did that and all she wanted to do was sleep for an hour or two in case he returned and demanded her to cool or clean. There was no telling what time it was yet so Rolf might return or he might fall asleep and not come back at all. Luna was clueless and while she needed rest she also needed to practice.<p>

The idea came to her after her first escape attempt. She was a witch and if she could apparate without a wand she could definitely perform a little magic. There was no doubt in her mind that George had gathered people and that they were out there looking for her but Luna has to be strong and plan in case they couldn't find her, something she thought was more than likely. She might not even be in England for all she knew! So she planned and she practiced magic in the dark when she was left all alone. This way, when she was strong enough, if George didn't find her first, she could break free and run to safety. She knew where to go where Rolf wouldn't think to find her and she knew where to get help. She'd be fine. She just needed the practice.

Luna rolled over onto her stomach and rested on her forearms much like a sphinx. She stared at the wall opposite her but her mind focused on the three little stones resting at the bottom of the ladder. They hadn't started there. At the beginning of her training they were in the corner she now stared at but time had passed and Luna had managed to accio them to her whilst gazing intently at them. Now it was time to try it without a direct link. If she could summon things to her without tipping Rolf off she was home free. The element of surprise was key to her plan.

It was much harder than Luna had anticipated. She tried to stay calm and keep her features from betraying her efforts but after a long and unmeasurable time of fruitless efforts Luna's face contorted with concentration. Then the smallest of the three stones clacked over the flagstones about an inch closer to where she was.

It might only have been a small achievement but Luna took it as a victory all the same. In celebration Luna lay her pounding head back on the soothing floor and used her foot to drag the thin scratchy wool blanket towards her. Once it was in her hands Luna wrapped herself up like a butterfly in a cocoon and let herself drift off to sleep. Even if they did always turn into nightmares her dreams were better than the pain of reality anyway.

"I think we might have a civilised lunch today wife." Rolf announced, slapping Luna's behind as she stood making sandwiches in the pitiful kitchen.

"Thank you my love. You're so kind." Luna smiled at him weakly. This was one of his favourite responses to anything he suggested and Luna only used it to spare herself a punch to the jaw or temple. How fond her husband was of hurting her face.

Rolf grabbed Luna's face and kissed her before giving her a little shove away and striding over to his armchair. Sitting down he turned on his radio and began tuning it to some station that Luna always tuned out anyway. Buttering a single slice of bread Luna began to feel dizzy. She'd been standing for hours making breakfast, washing dishes, balancing a chopping board and knife on her head and now making lunch. The sandwiches and cookies were laid out of clean porcelain plates already as Luna cut and peeled a couple of apples for them both. This was to be the most she'd eaten all week as Rolf gave her permission to dine with him which meant they had the same food. Had it been any other day Luna would have a single cold slice of ham, half a slice of bread and a tiny glass of water. She was so grateful for the sparkling glass of golden orange juice that would be a wonderful change from the blandness of her usual meal.

Today wasn't the day for her escape. She considered it as she set everything so neatly onto a tray. She hadn't mastered summoning things without looking yet and the big knife was put away in the cupboard anyway. There was no promising she could open the door and summon it out before Rolf noticed anyway. As much as it pained her she'd have to wait for another opportunity.

"You know, you've been so good lately I'm gonna get you a nice dress." Rolf decided as he untethered Luna and walked her to the table.

Luna wasn't sure what to say. She knew one wrong word would end her up in a world of pain.

"You don't have to." She finally settled on saying as she placed the meal in front of her husband.

Rolf grabbed her wrist as Luna went to sit down. Instinctively she flinched and Rolf punished her with a slap around the face with his free hand.

"I said I wanted to get you a nice dress." He told her through gritted teeth.

"Thank you," Luna said meekly.

Satisfied, Rolf released her and Luna sat next to him. The chain around her neck rattled as she readjusted it to fall neatly between her legs causing her to tense up in anticipation. He hated that sound almost as much as she did. Quickly her eyes darted across to him but Rolf sat pleasantly enough for a man of his calibre munching on his sandwich. Luna let out a miniscule smile and used her knife and fork to start cutting up her sandwich into tiny little pieces. The marks from their last lunch together were still visible on the back of her hands and around her throat. For every meal including sandwiches throughout her life Luna had used her hands to eat and she knew perfectly well that Rolf was exactly the same but when she'd gone to do the same last time he'd flipped the table and screamed. It wasn't lady-like to eat with your hands and he thought "he'd married a lady, not a pig". He could have broken her neck with the force with which he yanked the chain. She fell onto her hands and knees where he forced her to oink like a pig while he sat on top of her. Once she'd been degraded enough he stabbed her hands with the fork several times to make sure she remembered the message and cast her into the basement for what felt like three weeks. Luna rarely made the same mistake twice in this place. It just wasn't worth the pain.

Luna stared at her bare feet intently. They were filthy as indicated by the black dirt that caked them. Skin was peeling off and they smelt to high heaven. She'd have to ask for a bucket of water to wash them, so she could look pretty for her husband of course. The toenails were all chipped from the funny ways she'd been thrown to the floor over and over for weeks, maybe months on end. She would certainly have to –

_Zip_

The first real grin in a very long time spread across Luna's face. She looked up into her outstretched hand at the teaspoon the shone dimly in the dark. Two seconds before it had rested out of sight in the darkness by the ladder where she'd knocked it the previous day without her husband's knowledge. It was the biggest thing she could get down into her prison and she'd managed to summon it without looking in one swift movement. Undoubtedly she would have to practice more but she was almost there. She could do this, she could escape and be with her family again.

Luna was in agony. Her arms felt as though they were on fire from where she had been forced to keep herself pushed up on her hands upside-down against the wall for god knows how long. In his drunken state Rolf had made what he thought to be good use of her forced position, not only for physical pleasure but he always got a little kick out of the fear in his eyes when he threw another knife at the wall by her foot or her elbow or her ear. Her whole body was trembling with the stress but one wrong move and it would all be over for her. Thoughts of her son and lover kept her going strong though. Without them she wouldn't have the willpower to stand. She owed them both her life.

"Luna, honey," Rolf's slur jolted her from the paradise that was her imagination. "I've got you a present."

Luna blinked. Did she dare answer? No, she shouldn't. If it was a trap then he'd hurt her. If it wasn't a trap though, if he genuinely wanted a response and she ignored him then he'd hurt her all the same. In trouble either way Luna took the plunge.

"What is that my darling love?" She whispered, her voice hoarse. It'd been almost a full day since she'd last had a sip of water. Rolf hadn't been in the giving mood of late, or at least until that moment.

"_Did I say you could speak?_" He hissed.

That was it. She was done.

Luna tumbled into a heap on the floor as Rolf leapt out of his chair and prowled towards her.

"You see this?" He pulled out from seemingly nowhere an owl of all things. The bird had once been handsome but now its feathers were grey and ragged from neglect. It hooted in protest and flapped its wings feebly but the poor creature was in no condition to free itself. "I did a little run back to the old house and picked up a companion for you but you don't deserve a friend do you? You insolent little bitch!" He spat in her face.

In one swift movement he snapped the bird's neck and threw the corpse at Luna. She cried out in horror as feathers exploded everywhere.

"You monster! You monster!" She shouted at him repeatedly, being unable to say anything else.

Her precious Abigail. Luna had never meant to leave the poor bird behind but in the chaos of freeing herself the special present from the mysterious stranger had been abandoned with that wretch of a man. Now she was responsible for another death. There was so much blood on her hands and it was all that bastard's fault!

"Shut UP!" Rolf snarled.

Grabbing a fistful of Luna's hair, he dragged her over to the trap door and threw her back into the basement where she belonged. In the dark Luna sobbed on the floor in memory of her animal companion who she'd barely known at all to be fair. Her life had been so intense she'd never had time to truly get to know the bird. This is what she mourned most of all: wasted opportunities. In the chaos of the feathers she should have summoned a knife and slit his throat.

Next time she'd do it. The next available chance she got Luna would free herself and make him pay.

Enough was enough.


	20. Chapter 20

For the first time in the months that they had inhabited the place Rolf had allowed Luna upstairs with him for a _special_ _treat_. The attic room was quite charming really and somewhere Luna would have loved to have stayed if it weren't for the monster living in it. Dark wood coated the floor and slanted up to make a low pyramid roof. Magic had enlarged the room so that the iron-post bed could sit quite comfortably next to the wall that cut off the back left corner of the room. An empty owl cage sat on top of the little wooden beside table beside a dull lamp that faintly illuminated a single white feather through the bars.

Before she could take in the rest of the room Rolf steered Luna into the back room which turned out to be a white and blue tiled bathroom. A silver shower head protruded from the wall surrounded by glass walls and a sliding door. Kissing her neck Rolf started teasing off Luna's rags while she stood still as a statue trying not to squirm at his touch.

"Baby don't be mad," Rolf sighed. "I want to wash those feathers from your hair and show you I'm sorry."

He held Luna close against his chest and caressed the side of her face. This was her chance. The entry to the kitchen was wide open. She didn't even need to focus.

"Yes," She pulled back to smile weakly up into his face. "Let's do something nice. Something memorable."

She placed her hand on his cheek briefly before starting to unbutton his shirt. Tenderly he resumed unclothing her but not quick enough for in a moment the knife whizzed through the open door and into Luna's outreached hand behind Rolf's back. Before he knew what hit him Luna impaled his hand. He screamed and she slashed his cheek. Stumbling back Rolf's eyes flashed red but Luna was too quick. She jabbed the blade into his shoulder and threw herself into it. There was a sickening crunch as the metal blade snapped its way through bone and sank through flesh. He shrieked and fell to the floor beneath the blonde menace.

"I'll be back for you," Luna promised darkly. She jerked the knife back and jumped up.

She had no idea how long he'd be down for and she needed to leave, fast. Crashing down the stairs Luna threw herself into the blazing sunlight of a cloudless day. The sticky blood and the weight of her guilt weighed her down but Luna tried her best to shrug it off for now. More distance. She needed more distance so she could apparate away. She didn't dare look behind her and the wind roaring in her ears meant she couldn't hear if he was following her. Faster. She had to run faster even though her legs were so unused to this much activity and were wailing in protest at the sudden burst of exercise.

**Enough**.

Still moving forward, Luna span on the spot and vanished in an anti-climactic pop far, far away from that evil bastard.


	21. Chapter 21

Harry and Ginny had been living on their own in a house on the skirts of Ottery St. Catchpole for about a year now. Now in their twenties the couple felt it was time to take the next step in both their relationship and adulthood by living together. Harry still had Grimmauld Place and some nights he would sleep there when there was serious business at The Ministry that required the undivided attention of "The Chosen One" or when he and Ginny fancied a change of scenery. It had made sense to stay in the village near The Burrow. It put Mrs Weasley's mind at rest for one thing which was quite important as she began to grow older and frailer as her nerves bested her sometimes. Besides, Godric's Hollow and Hogsmeade had history that would have made living there, well, let's just say that it wasn't really a good idea. Despite all the travelling they did Harry and Ginny had never really found anywhere else that they had wanted to live so settling down in the village was the only option left open to them and that was perfectly fine.

Now pretty much every witch and wizard in the United Kingdom had at one point or another wondered what _Harry Potter_'s house would look like, both inside and out. Most imagined a grand mansion with rooms full of galleons, hundreds of house elves manning a massive kitchen and the utmost marble finery.

They were all, of course, completely wrong.

First of all, it was only a house and a small one at that with one bathroom (unthinkable in modern times, I know) and two bedrooms, one of which was originally no bigger than Harry's old but not forgotten cupboard under the stairs. They'd used magic to expand it into a size suitable for the odd guest although Harry and Ginny were at that awkward age where people didn't really come over much anymore, meaning that the room was hardly ever used.

The interior design had been a disaster. Neither one of the couple seemed to have what most people would call "taste" at all. In fact they were both completely clueless on how to decorate a house at all. They'd spent days on end enchanting and re-enchanting and enchanting the rooms all over again to find something that the two of them vaguely liked. The house was too small and square to pull off the polished wood and the rustic wood look. Bold colours made Harry's eyes hurt and Ginny couldn't stand the blandness of anything white or cream or beige or whatever boring colour muggles seemed to love. In the end they'd settle on a forest theme that consisted of green, brown and gold throughout the house. It was beautifully done (once Hermione stepped in of course) and every time Ginny returned home after a stressful day she instantly relaxed as the tranquillity of the forest engulfed her for when she shut the door she and Harry became cut off from the rest of the world, at least for a little while and it was wonderful.

It was in this magical forest that Luna sought her refuge. The Rook, the shop, The Burrow, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley – they would be the first places he'd search for her. Luna had never taken him to Harry and Ginny's house so it was a safe place, she was sure of it. They would help her, they always had and she was in desperate need of help. There was no denying it now.

The sky was darkening rapidly as Luna appeared in the meticulously neat front garden (it appeared as though Harry had learnt something from his childhood in Privet Drive). Thankfully there were tall hedges surrounding the place to shield Luna from the prying eyes of their muggle neighbours as she wrapped her knuckles on the door. Hearing movement from inside didn't open up the gateway to a flood of relief as she expected. In fact it set Luna further on edge as irrational fears of Rolf appearing at the door clouded her mind. She even began to back away a bit as a shadow approached the door.

"Oh thank God you're okay!" Ginny exclaimed.

In a very un-Ginny-like fashion, the young woman launched herself out of the door and threw her arms around her friend. Luna remained tense and rigid for the duration of the hug because she couldn't think to do anything else. She was outside and exposed in the rags that she wore in place of clothes. She needed George and her baby but instead she had to make do with the red-head that had been growing apart from her in years.

Mentally Luna scolded herself for being ungrateful and returned the hug briefly before Ginny broke away.

"Everyone has been worried sick," She told Luna, ushering her inside. "You've been gone for months!"

"Where's Harry?" Luna asked quietly.

"He'll be out with George, Neville and a few others. They've been searching for you every day you know." Ginny's revelation caused Luna to finally break down.

She crumpled into a heap on the floor and she cried. She cried because people actually cared about her, because not all men were monsters, because she was free now and she would be safe. That beast had done so many bad things to her, hurt her so much and in so many different ways where she had to control her fear and reduce the severity of her reactions because if he saw how much he affected her things would have only gotten worse. It didn't matter anymore though. She was safe. She was safe.

"_Expecto Patronum_." Ginny's whisper barely registered in Luna's mind over her sobs.

Her friend said nothing else. She couldn't. Ginny had no idea what Luna had been through, what she had done, none of it. But she was there and she was sending for help. Until Luna could be reunited with George she would care for Luna like sisters should.

"I'm just going to get you some clothes," Ginny told her softly.

Luna was exhausted. She nodded and then rested her head in her lap. Her brain throbbed inside her skull and her eyelids were so heavy. She fought to keep control, to stay aware, because that bastard could find her at any moment. It was a fight she could not win though and despite her best efforts Luna slipped into unconsciousness.

"I've sent George to your parent's to get Freddie. You know he can't see her yet, don't you?" Harry murmured to Ginny.

The pair were in the doorway to the living room, watching Luna sleep on the sofa. When Ginny had returned she had levitated her friend there instantly. The poor woman needed the rest so Ginny let her sleep and started cooking something for her to eat while she waited for Harry to come home. Luna looked thinner and more fragile than ever, including when she had starved herself in their final year at Hogwarts.

"Why not? He's been going insane ever since she was taken. He _needs_ to see her now!" Ginny hissed back.

"If he sees her like this or if he comes with us to end it all he will kill Rolf and even I can't keep George out of Azkaban for something like that Ginny." Harry kept his voice low and even as he countered her argument.

"Then be quick about it. Once I'm done here I'll go over to talk to him but I can't keep him detained for long." Ginny sighed.

Luna had listened to the entire exchange and felt like she was intruding as she heard the couple kiss. Unsure of what else she could do, Luna sat up and held her head. It was still throbbing and now her limbs felt stiff but that didn't matter. The feeling of a weight being gone from her shoulders soothed her because now Harry was here and he would see that Rolf was punished.

"Luna, you're awake." Ginny smiled.

"And alive." Luna replied with a small smile of her own. Her hand held her head and as if on cue Ginny presented her with a small potion.

"It should help," she explained. "With the aches and the pain."

"Thank you," Luna whispered before downing the shimmery amber liquid. It tasted foul but most medicines do. The moment it hit her stomach Luna felt better, like someone had washed away all the rust, leaving her free to move.

"Harry wants to talk to you but I have clothes and a shower waiting for you in the bathroom before you deal with all of that." Ginny stated. The way she phrased it left Luna the opportunity to talk to Harry and get the whole ordeal over and done with first but it was clear what she wanted Luna to do.

"You're so kind. Can you show me the way please?" Luna requested for fear that she would do something wrong or go somewhere she shouldn't and cause Ginny to cast her out. The habits Rolf had beaten into her over the past months would take just as long, if not longer, to rid herself of.

With a nod Ginny offered Luna a hand that she gratefully accepted and helped her off the sofa. Then she led the way with Luna close on her tail to the bathroom. Like the rest of the rooms fairy lights twisted about on the ceiling, twinkling soothingly. Candles had been lit and there was a bubble bath waiting for Luna. Words couldn't convey the gratitude she felt but the way she looked at Ginny was expressive enough. The two women hugged.

"I'll be downstairs if you need anything." Ginny whispered.

With a reassuring squeeze Ginny let go of Luna and returned downstairs to her boyfriend. As Luna shed the tattered layer that had served as her only protection for several weeks now she felt so exposed. Hastily she slipped into the warm water and sank beneath the bubbles. As the dirt and grime started floating away from her Luna thought about her reunion with George. There would be so many questions and when she told him about what had happened he'd be so angry. She couldn't deal with that. She didn't want to and there was no way she had the energy. Would he even listen though if she begged him to stay quiet? Would he be able to just let her heal without having to force his anger down her throat? She so desperately wanted to believe he could but there was doubt in Luna's mind. Doubt she could not rid herself of.

Maybe George wasn't the answer. She was broken now anyway, tainted in a way that she could never recover from. What if he thought she had been complacent in Rolf's horrific acts? He would not love her. Who could love her when she was shattered inside and out? No one needed her. She could just stay here under the water until everything vanished. Why bother resurfacing to more pain and hardship? It made sense. No one needed her.

Freddie did.

But she had been gone so long whatever bond there had been between them must have faded away. Her own baby would not remember her. It was better that way. It was better if she just let the world go.

"Oh no you don't."

A hand plunged through the opaque surface and dragged her out from the watery depths of the bath.

George glared at Luna, a fire in his eyes that had never been directed at her before.

"Don't you dare drown yourself!" George growled fiercely as Luna coughed and spluttered. "Don't you care about the hell I've been through? I am not going to let you leave Freddie and I ever again, do you hear me? Luna I love you, Freddie loves you. Don't you dare leave us! Don't you dare!"

"I can't do this anymore!" Luna shouted back. "I am sick and tired of the world dealing me a bad hand! I just want it to be over!" She broke down into sobs.

_I just want it to be over._

"Luna, please. Hold on just a little longer." George begged her. "See this through. Make sure Rolf goes to jail and come home to me."

He was so handsome. She'd always been envious of the Weasleys' famous flaming hair. His charming brown eyes stared earnestly at her, silently pleading for her to make the right choice.

Slowly Luna raised a hand to touch his cheek. Water dripped off back into the bath and when her fingers brushed his cheek George vanished from beneath her fingertips. He had only been a hallucination after all.

"I promise." She whispered before sinking back beneath the water.


	22. Chapter 22

Ginny had picked the perfect clothes for Luna to wear. A long-sleeved shirt and denim dungarees were the perfect armour because not only did they protect but they held her together too and reminded her of peaceful years in Hogwarts before the world became an infinitely more complex and darker place. Luna missed her wand though. She couldn't remember if she'd dropped it at George's apartment or if Rolf had stolen it from her. Wherever it was, she didn't have it and she'd have liked it just to dry off her hair really as silly as that sounds. It was always the little, useful bits of magic she missed because those were the bits that made the gift so special.

Harry was waiting for her in the kitchen. His dinner plate sat empty except for the morsels he was incapable of eating before him, half-full cup of tea next to it. Absent-mindedly Harry pushed his glasses up his nose as he rustled the copy of The Quibbler he scanned an article inside.

"There's a distinct difference in The Quibbler when you are Chief Editor and when Ms Dockety runs it," Harry mused, not looking up as Luna silently padded into the kitchen. "You master the balance between truthful articles and interesting, if evidentially lacking, articles whereas your substitute seems to be away with the fairies most of the time and struggles to understand the importance of finding out the whole truth."

"If Hermione wasn't so busy changing the world I'd have preferred to take her on. Ms Dockety tries her best but I doubt The Quibbler will ever be returned to its former glory. The war didn't really change our people. They still don't want to know the truth." Luna admitted with a frown. Choosing to be oblivious seemed so much more peaceful than knowing the truth but willing blindness had destroyed them all. At least if the information was out there, some of the choice was taken away. It's harder to ignore something placed right in front of you.

"He's going to get thrown in Azkaban for this Luna. I promise you but there are a few…" Harry trailed off as he folded the newspaper and placed on the table before him.

"I know he won't stay there forever." Luna offered an ending for his sentence but that's not what Harry meant.

"Before we can send him away Luna we have to find him. Will you be able to take us back there?" Harry looked her directly in the eye so that he could best evaluate her reaction.

Luna felt strange. She should have turned cold and begun to have trembled at the mere thought out that hell hole but it was irrational. Harry and his team of Aurors would keep her safe away from Rolf's clutches. She wouldn't have to worry about him for a very long time. It wasn't eagerness that filled Luna from head to toe but a desire to end it all and that meant turning that sick bastard in to face the law.

"I don't know where exactly we were but I could take one person there by apparition. I don't know how the rest would get there." Luna frowned.

She really wanted to be of help but Rolf had been clever in some respects whilst not clever enough in others. The result was that Luna was limited in what she could do to get that wretched man sent to jail.

"Don't worry Luna. That's all we need to find him." Harry reassured her.

There was silence and Luna looked at the floor. She hadn't told them anything yet about what happened to her or what she did to escape. She didn't want to. It was too horrific to be spoken about but he had to be warned. Harry had to be told so she could face her punishment also. It was only right.

"Harry, I have to tell you something." Luna broke the silence.

One of the improvements made to magical law enforcement was that Dumbledore's pensieve had been replicated and was now used actively in all criminal investigations. It was an improvement to a large extent as not only was it clear to judges when the memory had been tampered with, but it also help save a lot of innocent victims and incarcerate a lot of liars.

Once Luna had told Harry her story he had taken her to the Ministry straight away to have her memories reviewed. This was not because he didn't believe her (something he kept telling her throughout the process) but because the evidence would mean Rolf was sent away for far longer than Harry had originally anticipated. The use of the pensieve also showed Luna's plot to escape though which caused her to worry. She didn't have to though. Any punishment had been ruled out in the name of self-defence which had made her cry again but with relief this time.

Whilst all of this had been happening a magical law enforcement squad was being assembled on that floor. Luna worried that Rolf would have vanished or bled out from her attack but she had been reassured that Rolf didn't look like he would be going anywhere anytime soon. Still, it had been hours and when Luna finally apparated with Harry to the infernal cottage she had to rush ahead while Harry did some sort of magic that brought the rest of the squad to them.

It was like the cottage had died in the time she'd been away. She was so used to there being light in the main floor of the house but the luminous orbs that lit up the place had died. Everything was how she'd left it though: spotlessly clean except for this pool of blood in the middle of the kitchen that grew from a steady leak in the ceiling. She froze and stared at it in horror. That had been her doing.

Luna was about to race upstairs when Harry caught up to her and grabbed her by the upper arm.

"It's too dangerous Luna. Let us go up there first." He told her. Harry never spoke down to anyone and he didn't then. Luna trusted her friend and deep down she knew he was right so she stayed put.

Not knowing what else to do Luna slumped into Rolf's revolting armchair and rested. Being in the place drained her emotionally. Her head began to spin and she felt so weak. What she needed was George to curl up with and Freddie in her lap. She missed her family so much but it wasn't over just yet.

"He's alive. We're having him carted off to St Mungo's now where he'll be under guarded supervision until the trial. You won't be needed to attend that because we've got your memories as testimony." Harry announced upon returning.

"So I can go now?" Luna asked.

She had thought she was needed here. That was the only thing anchoring her to the place.

"I'll take you back now." Harry nodded.

Normally Luna would have argued but that would have just wasted time. She needed to get back to the people she loved, back to her family. Pushing herself out the chair Harry gripped her hand and with a comforting squeeze he apparated the pair of them back to his home.

Luna and Ginny walked over the cobbled stones of Diagon Alley in silence. Ginny could feel nerves radiating off of Luna but no words could comfort her now. Only George had that power which was why she hadn't wasted any more time returning Luna home. When they got to the front door of the apartment Luna let herself straight in. The living room was empty which made her heart drop a bit.

And then she heard it. Freddie's gurgling was a sound unmistakable to Luna. Without waiting for Ginny she raced off into the depths of the apartment to find her baby. Quickly she found him in the room she shared with George, laying down in his cot looking up at Angelina Johnson who was the only other person in the room.

**Author's note: **

**Hey guys, I know a lot of you are out there reading and subscribing/favouriting and I wanted to say thanks to you all, Luna the HP fan in particular as you are my only reviewer and reading your thoughts makes my day **

**I know a lot of you are ready for the story to come to a close but just as a warning, there are still 14 chapters to go. That may seem like a lot or hardly anything at all but the story will come to a close in a place I want it to end. There are still a few more aspects of George and Luna's lives I want to share with you so please bear with me as we enter the final third of the fic.**

**Thanks again,**

**Annabeth Black**


	23. Chapter 23

"Get the hell away from my nephew," Ginny snarled.

The fiery red-head stormed past Luna who was paralysed in shock and dragged Angelina away by her hair from the crib. As Ginny's curled fist made contact with Angelina's nose Luna jumped backwards and sank against the wall. He had betrayed her. He had replaced her like it was nothing, nothing at all. Everything was a lie, the search was a charade. He didn't really care. Had he ever?

Angelina shrieked and started to claw at Ginny who was not having any of it. Luna didn't watch though as they fought. Her eyes locked on Freddie as he began to wail. He had grown to almost twice the size he was when she left. His before podgy arms and legs had begun to slim down and his tuft of ginger hair had spread to a fine mop that really ought to be cut. She wanted to go to him, to pick him up and hold him but Angelina did that now. Undoubtedly he had replaced her just like his father had.

"What the hell?" George thundered.

He stood in the doorway in just his towel, hair dripping wet. His eyes were locked on the brawl in front of him so he didn't even see Luna. That was fine, it would make it easier to slip away.

"I could ask you the same." Ginny snarled. She was holding Angelina at arm's length with one hand while her other reached for her wand.

"I wasn't talking to you," George said coolly. "I told you to stop coming here Angelina."

Luna's heart skipped a beat. She was wrong. She had to be wrong. Please let her be wrong.

"I just thought-" Angelina started but Ginny shut her up.

"He said stop coming here so _out_." Grabbing a fist full of her hair Ginny dragged Angelina out of room before George could even mutter a thank you.

Freddie's wail turned to a whimper. Luna began to move forward to her son but in two strides George was there. He picked up the little boy out the cot and began to talking soothingly to him, apologising for the nasty lady who kept bothering them. As he did this he turned and saw Luna on the floor.

"Are you real this time?" He asked hesitantly.

Tears sprang to Luna's eyes. She nodded and pushing herself up off the floor she closed the gap between them and hugged her two boys.

Everything was okay now. She was home.

Returning home was not as easy as Luna thought it would be. George took a few weeks off of work but it made it even more difficult in some respects. The biggest problem she had was being close to him. She could hug him and kiss him but getting intimate was a challenge. Every time he tried to stroke her face or arm Luna would instinctively flinch. That first night being close wasn't a problem. She was so eager to be near him again that all the pain of the past few months had been temporarily forgotten but now… She would jump at the smallest noise, find a reason not to answer the door and she never, ever let Freddie out of her sight.

Freddie was a life saver. He needed so much care and attention that Luna insisted only she gave him. George understood, she was trying to re-establish the bond with her son. Freddie had not forgotten her which was a relief. He smiled in the cute way babies do when she picked him up and even started to cry when she set him down. It was good for Luna to feel needed. Playing with him was a distraction but unfortunately Freddie slept and he slept like a good child, not waking up every so often. This meant long periods of time where it was just George and Luna which was painful.

There were times when the two would cuddle on the sofa in silence. Luna could never bring herself to look at George then. She would rest her head on his chest but that was as close as they could get in those days. Sometimes she'd apologise. He understood. He always understood. Luna was so grateful for that and for how he never asked about what Rolf had done. Ginny must have warned him not to because there were times when George acted like he might ask but he never did. He just held Luna until her skin began to crawl and she had no choice but to worm her way free.

Most of the time though Luna would busy herself around the apartment either with house work or doing something for The Quibbler. It was easier that way. The silence though was killing them both. Luna tried but she just couldn't. Rolf had broken down all her barriers and Luna felt so exposed. She couldn't let anyone in yet. Not until she was done rebuilding herself.

It was a slow process. Luna didn't know what she was doing really. She just had to learn to be self-sufficient again which was easy enough. The hard part was catering to her needs before George's. Instinct told her to serve him or be punished but that was not the case. She had to tell herself over and over mentally that he wouldn't hurt her, that he was too kind to. Eventually it worked and in three incredibly long months she was able to kiss him.

The act came seemingly from nowhere. Since her return Luna had taken to sleeping on the sofa with Freddie on her chest whenever she could get away with it. One morning she'd woken up as George was getting ready to go to work. She could tell that he was trying so hard to be silent so as not to wake her but Luna only ever slept lightly these days meaning that his attempts were in vain. Freddie remained asleep in his cot in the bedroom only because Luna had needed to put him down the night before to shower and George wouldn't let her pick him back up. That meant she was free to get up off the sofa and silently fly to George's side. Luna had had another nightmare so she held him close while he set the kettle to boil. Then he returned her hug which made Luna feel safe and wanted. It was that feeling that prompted her to stand on her tiptoes and kiss him.

It felt like ages since she'd last kissed him, over twice the length of time than it had actually been. Kissing is like riding a bike though, you don't forget how to do it. All too quickly things were getting heated. Luna was up on the counter in front of him before she could think twice which frightened her. It was moving too fast. She wasn't ready. But she missed him so much. She needed to be close to him.

Luna's emotions got all mixed up and confused inside her. She didn't know what to do or how to feel. All she was able to do was keep kissing George because she loved him and missed him and he had to know that. She had to show him. Except she couldn't because he broke away, gasping for breath. They stared at each other, Luna trembling slightly.

"I'm sorry," George panted. "I'm so sorry."

He walked back to her and enveloped her in his arms. She buried her head in his shoulder and tried to calm her breathing.

"You started to whimper and I thought I was hurting you. Was I?" He asked nervously.

Luna shook her head. No, he hadn't hurt her. Rolf had. George was her comfort. She needed him then most of all.

Luna was having a very bad day.

It all started the day before when George had gone drinking with his brothers and not returned home. That meant Luna (who after a massive surge in progress had finally moved back into their bed) woke up alone to Freddie's screams. The next hour comprised of various attempts to feed him, change him, burp him and play with him but nothing was working. Luna hated herself. Not only did she feel useless but she was started to get frustrated with Freddie for his continual wailing. She shouldn't have felt it. Her maternal instincts were shutting down though and she couldn't help herself or her son.

Taking him over to the kitchen, Luna placed Freddie on the side and began to pull potions out of the medicine cabinet. A simple spell should have revealed the cause of Freddie's illness if that was it but it failed so she had no clue which to use. In the end she went for a spoonful of pain-relieving potion which was mixed with his milk. The little boy wouldn't drink it though and ended up spilling the liquid all over Luna.

As if the unexpected bath wasn't enough, an owl swooped in through an open window and dumped a letter right into the puddle. Luna snatched it up before the ink became illegible and ripped into it.

_Luna,_

_The trial process ended this morning. Rolf's been sentenced to five years in Azkaban after which a restraining spell will be put on the both of you so he can't come near you. I'll explain the rest of it when I see you next._

_Harry._

Five years. Just five years? After all the pain and the suffering she went through, after everything she had lost he was going to be sent away for _five years_?

Angrily Luna crumpled the note up into a ball and threw it across the room. It hit a vase and sent it crashing to the floor. The shatter set Freddie's shrieks off anew and Luna was going to lose it.

"What's wrong?" She asked Freddie hysterically. "What's wrong with you? Why are you torturing me this way?"

The baby just carried on wailing. She didn't know what to do. There was nothing she could think of that would calm her son down and the violent urges bubbling up within her scared Luna. It was too much. She needed George but God knew where he was. Everyone else Luna knew was working, besides what did they know about babies?

Unable to cope with the rising pressure Luna snatched Freddie up and bundled him into her room before bolting back to the kitchen. Hastily she remade the bottle with the medicine in it and gave it to Freddie before locking the door. Her head pounded and the nausea was back with the metallic taste in her mouth. Luna stumbled a little and wanted to scream because she could still hear her child wailing. The farthest she could get from Freddie was the bathroom which she locked herself in before casting away her wand.

Placing her hands over her ears she rocked back and forth, trying to collect herself so she could go face the problem. It wasn't working though. In the end she was just sick in the toilet, something she hadn't done since being pregnant with Freddie.

A terrible thought occurred to Luna in that moment which made everything a thousand times worse. Desperately wanting to be wrong Luna wrenched open the bathroom cabinet and searched urgently for that fateful potion.


	24. Chapter 24

Luna sat with her back resting against the bathroom door, clutching the hand she bandaged to stop an infection spreading to the shallow cut she'd made. Her eyes were locked on the jar in front of her. It was glass with a screw on silver lid. Inside the liquid that had confirmed her worst fear swirled misty green, taunting her with its result. How long had she been captivated by the jade solution? Not long enough. Freddie was still screaming somewhere but it was okay. She'd heard George burst in a minute or so ago. The sound of him thundering towards the source of distress made Luna ease up a bit. The sound of him calling her name… She didn't respond. She couldn't. What would she say to him? He would surely cast her out for being pregnant with a mini monster. No, no he would never. George was always so good to her. He'd never. Or at least she hoped he would never.

"Luna, are you in there?" George asked, banging on the door.

Luna's voice got stuck in her throat. Freddie, she noticed, was significantly quitter now. Was he okay? How had George managed to get him to quieten down? She needed to know but she couldn't move or speak. It was as though someone had cast _Petrificus Totalus _on her. She was a statue, a prisoner of her mind.

"Luna, open the door." There was a sense of urgency in George's voice. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. It was her, it had to be. She was wrong. He was going to throw her out and get somebody right. Replace her for real this time. She could feel it.

"Luna, for Merlin's sake! Let me in!"

One of those _it's now or never_ feelings washed over Luna. An idea came to mind as she flung open the door and in a second she had rushed past George who carried Freddie in his arms. Good. It would make packing so much easier.

As George did not follow her it was clear to Luna that he had caught sight of the potion on the edge of the bath. It didn't matter though. The devil spawn growing inside of her would not be a problem for much longer. Quickly she shoved pyjamas and underwear into a suitcase she's created from seemingly thin air. A cloak flew out of the closet and tied itself about her shoulders while shoes flopped onto the carpet before her. She hurriedly shoved her feet into them and picked up the full case.

She had to do this quick, before she could change her mind.

Rushing out of the room Luna wasn't looking where she was going and she ran straight smack into George. Freddie was in his play cot in the living room, she could see him just past George's shoulder. She tried to dart around her lover but he moved to block her.

"Don't you dare." His voice was low but not threatening. There was a darkness to him that Luna remembered all too well from their first days together, long before they were a couple. When George had not been shouting he spoke in such a way that made her heart break. She couldn't let him get to her now though. She had to go. She had to save them all.

"I know what you're going to do. Don't." George carried on.

"I have to deal with the problem." Luna's voice was barely more than a whisper but her message was clear.

"My child is not a problem." George insisted.

"It's not yours." Luna's monotonous response ought to have enraged George but he didn't even lift an eyebrow.

"It is mine, blood or not. I can't let you do this." George placed a hand lightly on Luna's arm.

She shrugged it off.

"I could never live with it." Luna was disgusted by her honesty. She would have to love a constant reminder of the darkest period of her life. It would be impossible not to fear the child that would need her to survive.

"You couldn't live without it. Don't you remember how you were when I brought you here from the hospital? Don't you remember that agony that tore you to pieces when you thought you'd killed another innocent? Don't you remember how you felt that first time you lost-" George had to stop and start again, knowing how much his words hurt Luna. "I will not let you go through that again. We will manage. You can do this. I believe in you."

His words were too much.

Luna fell forwards into his arms and sobbed into his chest. Slowly he lowered them to the floor so they knelt before one another. Carefully he prised the suitcase out of her grip and threw it behind her. Then he repositioned them both so Luna was in his lap. Once they were comfortable he just held her close and let her cry it out.

Time flew by and Luna got better. Some days were worse than others, particularly as Freddie developed dragon pox after an outing with Bill, Fleur and Victoire to the pack but with George there it was easier to handle.

The announcement of her pregnancy inspired a lot of gossip amongst their family and friends. Next to none of them knew about the initial burst of intimacy when Luna returned home so everyone took the same path of assumption Luna did. No one dared speak to Luna directly about it though and George somehow managed to maintain a cheery ignorance to what was said to him. Some people took it too far though which made George incredibly angry. Once he had stormed out of Percy's house in the middle of an evening because Percy had idiotically suggested they should give the baby up for adoption. However, they hadn't left before George had broken his older brother's nose (something Luna was not too proud to admit).

The pair had expected to stay recluse in their little apartment as they had done for pretty much their whole lives together leading up to that time but actually Luna's second pregnancy had led the pair to be more interactive with the people who loved them than ever before. Fleur, Hermione and Ginny were always showing up to take Luna out. Spa days, baby shopping, coffee – they did it all. One time they even took Luna looking at houses because the apartment about the shop really wasn't big enough for a family of four. Luna had never even thought about it until they mentioned it which worried her. When she raised the issue with George he admitted he had been looking at some houses without her knowledge in the hope to surprise her when they found the perfect one. Luna, touched by the sweet gesture, had kissed him sweetly before deciding that they would look together for a new place.

Not only had Luna's popularity increased but so had Freddie's. Now he was getting older everyone was offering to take him out and letting him spend nights so George and Luna could have some alone time. It was incredibly sweet and Luna couldn't have been more grateful. Toddlers, she discovered, were very difficult to handle. Freddie kept wandering off and putting things in her mouth. She'd have to chase him all over the flat to get him anywhere near the bath because using magic on him just wasn't an option in her mind. As her belly swelled at an alarming rate this was a task that became increasingly difficult as Freddie tended to kick. Thankfully if George wasn't on hand there was always someone else around to help her with this task.

Sadly not everyone was supportive of Luna's pregnancy. It shocked Luna that Mrs Weasley of all people was colder to her than usual. She masked it well with her usual jolly demeanour but there was something off about her. She was always willing to take Freddie and it was the snide remarks when she offered that made Luna aware of her opinion. She never spoke up about it though. There was no need to worry George who was spreading himself rather thin between work, family, outings and house-hunting. Luna helped out as much as she could but George had become quite stubborn and was insisting that he could deal with everything just fine. Luna disapprove and still did her best to help him, not because she was scared any more – she'd gotten over that by now – but because she loved him and it were her way of expressing that love.

It was a quite Tuesday evening when the letter came. George was sat at the table spoon-feeding a resistant Freddie some mushy baby gloop while Luna washed the dishes. Other than the noise the boys made the flat was mainly silent which was fine by Luna. She needed some peace after the screaming match between Freddie and an owl at Ron's that day. Everyone was so consumed by their tasks that no one noticed the owl swoop down into the room until it dropped a bulging envelope on the table. It was gone before Luna had finished drying her hands but that was fine.

Picking it up, Luna opened the letter and began to read. She was barely a few lines in when she threw the parchment back down onto the table. She didn't need to read any more.

"What is it?" George asked, setting Freddie's food down.

Luna felt his eyes on her as she turned back to the sink and resumed washing dishes.

"My divorce came through." She tried to keep her voice casual but her chest felt tight.

She'd pretty much forgotten about Rolf and her divorce. Hermione had been sorting it all out on Luna's behalf which meant that it was rarely spoken about. Most days Luna managed to pass of her cruel husband as a nightmare because it allowed her to carry on with her life. Any reminder of him made her uncomfortable now.

"Luna," She heard the pity in George's voice and she hated it.

Part of her wanted to shut down until the relief that she would never have to see that bastard again finally hit her. She couldn't though. There was a lot to do and sealing herself off never helped.

Sometimes Luna had the sneaking suspicion that George had a sixth sense because right as she needed him he appeared, snaking his arms around her waist and holding her close while she finished her chore. When Freddie started crying he left her side and didn't return again until she was done and Freddie was safely in bed. Together they sat on the sofa, cuddled together.

"Luna," George repeated her name, pity replaced with nerves.

Oh no. He wouldn't.

"I love you." George began with a deep breath.

"I love you too." Luna smiled, kissing him softly.

"I know and now Rolf is gone I was wondering," he paused, sliding off of the sofa and on to one knee.

From a pocket he produced a small black ring box and opened it to reveal the most beautiful ring of small diamonds were embedded in a silver band. It was simple but breath-taking. A lump rose in Luna's throat as tears welled up in her eyes.

He would.

"Would you marry me?" George asked.

Luna looked from him to the ring. The symbol of commitment but also entrapment. She loved George and she wanted to be with him for the rest of her life but she didn't feel ready. It was too soon, not to mention that the last time she'd gotten married was because she was pregnant and look how that turned out. She didn't want to jinx anything but she didn't want to break his heart either.

"George," she let out a shaky breath and brushed away a tear trickling down her cheek. "I can't."


	25. Chapter 25

It was the middle of the night when Luna's waters broke. She hadn't been able to sleep from the contractions coming every ten minutes or less so while George slept she paced about the living room silently in pain just waiting for that final sign. With a wave of her wand and a sigh of relief Luna cleared up the mess and picked up her suitcase. She'd been ready to leave at a moment's notice since lunch time the day before. A note was strategically placed on the sofa for George when he finally awoke so with everything in place Luna shuffled out of the flat into the cool night air.

As she waddled down Diagon Alley Luna felt guilty. She knew she ought to have woken George but since she rejected his marriage proposal things had been more than a little tense between them. She tried her best to act like nothing had changed but there was a clear underlying strain on the relationship. Luna didn't want to put anymore strain on the relationship by waking him up in the middle of the night when she didn't need him help.

The Leaky Cauldron was still teeming with life despite the late hour so Luna was able to pass through basically unnoticed as she headed out into the muggle world. Over the past couple of weeks she'd given a lot of serious thought about how she'd get to St Mungo's and in the end she'd decided that Muggle transport would be the safest way. A black car with tinted windows waited idly on the street that Luna knew was for her. Awkwardly she opened the back door and clambered inside.

"Where's George?" Ginny frowned, turning around from the front passenger seat to look at Luna.

"He'll meet us there." Luna assured her with a smile.

Clearly dissatisfied Ginny turned back to the front and pursed her lips. Harry on the other hand smiled at Luna through the rear-view mirror before pulling the car out into the road.

"How are you holding up?" He asked conversationally as they glided down the street.

"It's nothing I haven't done before," Luna faked a dismissive smile. She said it more to calm herself down than to answer him. Doubt bubbled in the back of her mind in an attempt to ruin the moment but she wouldn't let it.

Everything would be okay.

Magical abilities or not, Labour was long and painful. Ginny wasn't great at the supportive role so she'd been sent out of the room, leaving Luna alone with two midwives. She screamed for George as she pushed but he didn't appear and that was fine. He'd already had to suffer through one delivery. Luna could make it through this without him.

"That's a good girl," the young blonde midwife encouraged her, squeezing Luna's hand back as tightly as Luna gripped hers. "The first one's out." There was an Irish twang to her voice that Luna would have found intriguing under any other situation but the present one.

"The first one?" Luna panted in disbelief.

Before she could be answered her pain started afresh and she was ordered to push again.

Luna was exhausted. Sweat poured out of her body by the bucket, causing her hair and hospital gown to stick to her pale skin. She felt disgusting and so desperately wanted to shower but it wasn't over yet. Oh no, a whole other baby to go.

It had never dawned on Luna that she might have twins. The size of her belly made it obvious now but she hadn't bothered going to a healer to get checked out. Fleur assured her that she was healthy and Luna had all the necessary potions from her previous pregnancy so there was really no need for professional help. That meant no one told her that there would be two babies. As if one wasn't bad enough.

No, she couldn't think like that. These children were gifts, precious little bundles of love that she would care for until her last breath.

"Congratulations," the older midwife smiled from the end of the bed. "Two boys."

Luna sighed in relief. She wouldn't have minded whatever the sex of her children but boys were much easier to raise than girls she'd decided. But what if they turned out like their father? What if she failed her two children and they grew up to be monsters like _him_? No, she couldn't let that happen. She shouldn't even entertain the thought.

Fear bubbled in the back of her mind as the first of her two sons was handed to her. He had a plastic band around his left wrist, like they give out in Muggle hospitals, waiting for a name to be added to it. The fear melted from Luna as she looked down at the sleeping infant. His skin was pale and glowed like moonlight. A tuft of blonde hair stuck straight up from his soft head which made Luna giggle. It had been so long since she'd laughed. The last time had been over a month previously whilst she was reading _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. Hermione had lent it to her as a means of entertainment once Luna became less and less able to leave the flat. She thought to it then and to the character of Lysander who had to face some major obstacles in the pursuit of love. The baby in her arms would have many obstacles too: his parentage, Luna's fear and then later in life people who would always try and interfere with who he wanted to be with like Rolf and Angelina. Lysander seemed like the perfect name for this little one Luna decided and she told this to the younger midwife. Obediently she wrote the name on his tag and asked if he had a middle or last name.

Luna thought for a moment and decided that she'd always loved the name Oscar. It was short and had a certain… growly quality to it like a bear. Bears could be both cute, cuddly and ferocious which her son may also end up being. Oscar just seemed to fit.

"Oscar Lovegood." She told the midwife steadily.

She had been told time and time again that magic could determine the biological father of her baby but Luna didn't want to know. She was scared to find out the true result. Early on in the pregnancy she had made her mind up that if her child ever asked then they could make the decision about whether to have the test done or not. Until that day Luna would not burden them or herself with the knowledge of who they belonged to.

The blonde midwife gave her am encouraging smile and finished off the name as the older midwife returned with her other child.

"Watch out, he's a fierce one." She chuckled, handing him to Luna.

Luna looked down at her second son who was wide awake, unlike his brother. Piercing blue eyes looked up at Luna with that element of wonder small children have. He gurgled in a way that sounded almost frustrated and swatted at a strand of Luna's hair that tickled his nose. She smiled and a guttural growling sound popped out of his mouth which surprised Luna a little.

"She'd right. You are a fierce little one," Luna cooed, trying desperately not to be afraid.

"Can I make a suggestion?" The blonde midwife asked hesitantly.

"Of course," Luna replied in a friendly manner, grateful to have another place to look but at the two warm bundles of life in her arms.

"Well, in Gaelic Lorcan means little fierce one. If you don't like it then that's fine but it just seemed to fit is all." She offered.

"Lorcan," Luna sounded the name out. "It's lovely." She decided.

But what would his middle name be? With a whole world full of names before her Luna couldn't think of a single suitable one. He needed something nice, softer to balance out his first name. She didn't want to jinx his future by giving him two… not harsh but two names that could be taken badly based upon interpretation.

Luna thought about Freddie and how he had been named after a beloved person who had passed on to the next life. Maybe there was someone from her family she could name Lorcan after. The moment she thought this her mind when straight to her mother's father. He had died shortly after her mother had, heartbroken at the loss of his only child. Isaac Merriweather had been a kind old man from what Luna remembered. He was always presenting her with daffodils whenever he came to the house and he smelled like old leather and dust. Even now Luna could remember the wrinkles around his eyes when he smiled. Yes, her grandfather was just right to name Lorcan after.

Once she related this to the midwife Luna and her newly born sons were left in peace and quiet for a little while which was just fine by her. Despite her exhaustion Luna needed to bond with them for a bit before she slept. She would love them, just as she loved Freddie. She was sure of it.

Luna hadn't been sleeping for very long when George burst into the room angrily. She woke with a start as he stormed towards her, fury etched all over his face.

"What didn't you wake me?" George growled.

"Where's Freddie?" Luna completely ignored him as her eyes searched the room for her first-born. He was nowhere to be seen.

"He's in the waiting room with Ginny and Harry. Now why didn't you wake me?" George pressed.

Luna relaxed a little although she was surprised that Ginny and Harry were still there. She'd invited them in but the couple politely refused, saying it wouldn't be right to greet the twins before George. At least someone was looking after Freddie. He was old enough now that seeing his parents fight would affect his behaviour and she didn't want that.

"You were sleeping. I had it under control." Luna shrugged. She looked over to the twins who were still sound asleep in floating cots next to one another beside her bed.

"Luna," The anger melted from George's voice. She watched him look at her sons and saw the anger ebb away. "I know what you think about them but you're wrong. No matter what they are my children to." His voice was gentle and the sentiment warmed Luna's heart.

"I'm sorry." She murmured. She wanted to reach out to him, to hold his hand but she couldn't. Luna was trapped in her own mind, worrying about George's next words.

"What are their names?" George moved over to them, enchanted by the pair.

"Lorcan Isaac Lovegood and Lysander Oliver Lovegood." Luna never took her eyes off George. It suddenly struck her how he might be feeling about seeing twins, having lost his own. Fred may have died what seemed like a lifetime ago but in all those years George had never stopped mourning his brother. Trips to his grave may be less frequent nowadays but there was always a minute silence before they ate out of respect for the fallen hero.

"They took your last name?" His voice wavered slightly as he asked.

Nervously Luna slipped out of the bed and padded over to George. She looped her arms around his waist and hugged him, ready to put all her strength into it and hurl him away if she needed to. Luna wanted to think that she knew better, that George wouldn't break down so completely that the babies would be in danger. The thing was, if he began to sob, he could fall straight to his knees and he'd hit Lorcan on the way down. She had to protect the three of them. She had to protect them all.

"I thought it was best." She spoke into his shoulder but he heard.

At first he said nothing. He just stared. Luna was dying to know what he thought but she didn't dare ask. He would turn to her if that's what he needed. She would be there for him.

"Can I- Can I hold them?" George pivoted round to face Luna. His eyes shone bright with unshed tears.

"Of course," She lifted his hands and pressed them to her lips. How could she deny him this? He was to be their father after all. He needed a chance to bond just as much as she did.

With her help George carefully held both boys, one in each arm. He looked so worried, like by even holding them they might shatter. Eventually he relaxed but that didn't stop the tears falling.

"I love you," He said looking straight at Luna.

"I love you too." Luna's voice caught in her throat.

She missed him so much. She hated having to do this to him. It wasn't fair. He'd been so good to her and she'd been… going through a rough patch. That was no excuse though and in that moment Luna vowed to do right by him. She loved him more than she thought she ever could.

After a minute George asked for help in putting the boys down. Once the babies were settled he grabbed Luna's hands and pulled her close to him. This time when he knelt down on one knee Luna began to cry.

"Luna, please."

That was all he had to say.

She knew what he wanted. He wanted to love her and let everyone know it. He wanted to protect her from the evil in the world and make her laugh and smile. He wanted to be the father of her children, his or not. He wanted to make their family official.

The best bit was that Luna wanted all that too.


	26. Chapter 26

On their wedding days brides have the tendency to get nervous. They pace and freak out because what if they're making a huge mistake? What if it's too soon? What if he's sleeping with her sister? Are the flowers right? Will everyone be on time? There was so much to worry about!

Except for Luna there wasn't. The worst had already happened to her and George and they had survived it. Saying no had been a huge mistake. Getting married felt so right and she was excited to walk down the aisle. George should have been the man she married the first time around and after years of being together no one could argue it was too soon. Unfortunately Luna didn't have a sister or any blood relatives to invite to the family, let alone for George to sleep with and she certainly wasn't sleeping with his. Ron and Ginny were the only siblings of his that she saw on a regular basis but that didn't matter. Since that summer spent cooped up in The Burrow caring for George he had been the only one she could ever truly love. Now her dreams were coming true. What did it matter if the flowers were wrong? Flowers couldn't even be wrong! Nothing mattered but saying "I do". Nothing mattered but uniting their family.

How much longer would she have to wait? If it weren't for the fact that the twins needed feeding Luna would have rushed out of Ginny's house and run to the chapel to start the wedding early. Sadly the twins weren't quite one yet and so definitely still needed to be fed by others. Patiently she helped Lorcan with his bottle whilst Hermione fed Lysander. A baby bump of her own was growing which made Luna smile. Ginny had recently had hers which was why she was out of the room. James Sirius Potter was a little poop machine whose nappy needed changing every ten seconds it seemed.

"No, Freddie, don't!" Mrs Weasley called, chasing the tot about the room.

Somehow he had shimmied out of his little suit and was running about naked around the room. Luna laughed because this was the third time that day he'd managed to worm his way out of clothes.

"Freddie, do as Grandmama says!" Luna laughed.

As he passed by she lifted her foot so he ran into her leg and bounced backwards into Molly's arms. Freddie pouted but otherwise did as his mother bid him and let his grandmother put his clothes back on.

"How much longer?" Luna turned to Hermione who just smiled.

"Not long now." Was her answer.

She was right. Compared to the years she'd had to wait to arrive at this moment it wasn't long at all.

As Luna walked down the aisle she struggled to remember to breathe. George stood at the front of the chapel alone other than the squat minister who seemed to be the only wizard religious official in the whole of England. Hermione and Ginny were off to the left slightly by the alter in their matching plum bridesmaid dresses. Luna smiled as Freddie freed himself from Ginny's grip and rushed over to her.

"Mummy, mummy!" He giggled, hugging her legs.

Luna ignored everyone watching her and bent down to Freddie's height.

"You do look very handsome in those clothes," She told him with a smile. "Did you want to walk me down the aisle?"

Freddie nodded and Luna's heart swelled. There was no one to give her away. There never had been until her son, blissfully unaware as he was, decided to be cute and that just made everything a whole lot better. Standing back up again Freddie grabbed Luna's hand with his own small one and together they finished the walk to George. When it was time to let go Freddie walked over to his father and hugged him too before wandering off to go sit with Bill.

Together Luna and George laughed before turning to the minister hand in hand. Everything was going to be alright from then on. She could feel it.

The ceremony didn't last long which was for the best. They had gotten married in the church where Fred's funeral had been held after all. George was okay though, or as okay as he could have been. He did all his crying during the planning when Luna suggested that Fred be his best man as had always been the plan since before his twin died. It was such a sweet gesture that George had broken down upon hearing it. He agreed though in the end which Luna was thankful for. She knew on that day of all days George might need his twin brother.

It was never going to be a big wedding because Luna and George didn't really have many friends outside of their family. Of course all the Weasleys and their own families were there which greatly swelled their numbers. Neville had travelled down for the weekend from his teaching post at Hogwarts to join the festivities, as had Hagrid. Dean Thomas, Alicia Spinnett, Oliver Wood, Katie Bell and Lee Jordan all made it too so Gryffindor was truly represented during the reception but again, Luna was lacking a little. Ms Dockety was growing old very fast it seemed and she sat in a corner gossiping to Mrs Weasley. Several of the shop assistants were cooing over Lorcan and Lysander as the slept under the watchful eye of Ginny.

Despite the small size of the wedding party it was still wonderful. Once they were officially united George didn't let go of Luna all evening. If they weren't holding hands he had his arm around her waist or his hand on the small of her back. George's constant touch was a reminder to Luna that she wasn't dreaming, that this was really happening. She couldn't have been happier.

"Come with me," George whispered in Luna's ear while everyone was on the floor dancing.

With a nod and a smile that made Luna feel like a teenager again, she took George's hand and followed him out of the gazebo into the night. George twirled Luna under the stars before kissing her.

"I love you and I promise never to let you go again." He told her.

And that was a promise he kept for the rest of their lives.


	27. Chapter 27

**Dear readers,**

**I know a few chapters back I thanked all of you for sticking with this fic and I'd like to reiterate that sentiment. What originally started out as some role-playing with a group of friends has turned into something I would never have imagined when I started out on this project with my good friend Abbi two years ago. **

**I also said that there would be approximately 12 more chapters but after looking at my plan I decided that not only is it time to put George and Luna to rest but these extra chapters weren't essential to the story. That said, I will be uploading them as a new, bonus fic later in the Summer for anyone interested. For now however I hope you enjoy the second to last chapter of **_**All Because of a Mistake.**_

**Love Annabeth x**

Time is an odd thing. Sometimes it races by and you find yourself stranded with not enough hours in the day to get everything done. Then at other times it drags and you find yourself hard-pressed to commit to a task or find something to fill up the seemingly endless hours. Looking back, years seem to pass by incredibly quickly whether they felt like it or not as you progressed day to day. Decades, however, are a funnier thing to look back at and harder to describe. Words and time are a strange combination. There have been occasions when Time has supported words well and carried them long into the future. The truth of the matter is though that Time loses most words. They fall by the wayside and decay into nothingness.

George and Luna had said many words to one another in the ages that had passed since their wedding. While some were forgotten, every single little thing between the two was cherished. Life had taught them early on to appreciate what they had and not a day went by that the couple weren't immensely thankful for everything they had.

Now old and grey George and Luna had moved back into The Rook once George had retired from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Now Lysander and James ran it side by side, teaching their own children the professionalism of pranking. Lorcan surprised everyone by taking over The Quibbler from Luna and Freddie had gone on to teach Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts. With five grandchildren (a number that hadn't quite stopped growing yet either), George and Luna could not have been any prouder of their family. What made it even better was that once their children had learned of the hardships their parents had to overcome to be together, their family could not have been any prouder of George and Luna either.

Days had been mostly quiet for the retired couple. Luna would chat to George about Freddie's insights onto the biology of the Crumple-Horned Snorkack which all these years later was not officially recognised in the wizarding community as a magical creature following a fruitful family expedition to Luxembourg when the twins had finally finished their education at Hogwarts. George would still attempt to create new pranks but his mind was wearing thin with age and it was becoming more and more difficult for him. This didn't prevent him from placing whoopee cushions under Luna's chairs though when she wasn't looking. The way he would crack up laughing when Luna sat down made her resist the temptation of foiling his practical jokes. Not many old people laughed any more.

Then one day the laughs turned into coughs and wheezes. George became very ill incredibly quickly. He had difficulty breathing and would often have lengths of time where he couldn't move at all. No one had any clue as to what had caused this but the pain that the illness brought was clear. Potions and spells didn't seem to have much if any effect on George's health but that didn't matter. Luna had once again adopted the role of nurse and tried everything she could, both muggle and magical, to help him. He was her everything and she wouldn't rest until he was well again.

"Luna, stop. I can dress myself! I'm not five!" George wheezed as Luna pulled his loose sleeping shirt over his head.

"No, you're seventy-five so don't give me any of that," Luna said, tossing the clothes into the basket. "You can't dress yourself and I won't have our grandbabies seeing you in your night-clothes."

This is how most mornings went because George and Luna were blessed to have family come and visit them every day. George, unable to move, would be washed and dressed by Luna before the children came. Then while they sat with him she would make everybody breakfast and do a little cleaning. She could never bear to be apart from George for long though so every so often she would return and sit by his side while the family told him their stories. When he got too tired people would leave again but their sons would always hang back and request to be more active in caring for George.

"It's my job to take care of him. I always have and I always will. You look after your own children and let me care for him." Luna always insisted politely. The truth was she didn't trust anyone to care for George. They had no experience with him, not like she did.

This day was different though. Luna was slower getting George ready. Her hands trembled and she paused to cough more times than a healthy person would need to.

"Have I made you ill?" George asked worriedly, taking his wife's hands in his own as she sat before him on the bed.

"Don't be silly George. What's happening to me is in no way your fault," She assured him with her brightest, most caring smile. _It's all mine for not being strong enough to care for you._ "I just have a tickle in my throat is all."

She hated lying but she did it all the same because she loved him. If he worried about her then George wouldn't focus on getting better and they both needed him to recover. Having lost people close to them some days they found that the constancy of each other's company was all that got them through the loneliness.

"Promise?" George looked deep into her eyes. There were times Luna could have sworn he saw straight into her soul.

"Promise." She nodded, kissing him lightly on the lips. The deep-heated passion may have long since died but the displays of affection never faltered.

Before they knew it the rest of their family had arrived. Luna pottered about in the kitchen making stacks of buttered toast and putting together pitchers of orange juice with her only granddaughter. Olivia was very much like her grandmother. Despite the strawberry blonde hair Olivia and Luna shared the same features, right down to being "away with the fairies" at times. Together they chatted about Olivia getting a unicorn for her ninth birthday and how her older brother kept sneezing orange bubbles all over her room. Luna loved spending time with Olivia. It was nice to have a little girl around as she had never had one of her own.

"Mum?" Freddie asked, jogging down the stairs.

"Yes dear?" Luna asked absent-mindedly.

"Dad was starting to worry. You've been down here for an hour." Freddie folded his arms.

"What are you talking about? It's only been ten minutes." Luna shook her head.

Freddie gave her a look but she ignored it and picked up the tray. Her son tried to take it from her but Luna simply wouldn't allow it. Olivia grabbed Freddie's hand and dragged him ahead of Luna. She smiled, remembering when he used to do that with her. How times had changed.

Once in the room Luna started dishing out the food. While everyone ate she sat by George and helped him with his toast as his arms had gotten all stiff again. There was relative silence as everyone sat munching on their breakfast which led Luna's eyelids to droop but she was startled awake very suddenly by a fierce outburst from Lorcan.

"Mum you're not eating! You've barely eaten anything since dad got sick and God forbid you've slept more than six hours this week! You're killing yourself right in front of us and I'll be damned if we're not going to do anything about it!"

"You sound like your uncle Charlie." She mused.

"Don't avoid the issue." Lorcan snapped.

"Calm down Lorcan. There's no need to be hostile." Lysander placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. Even as grown men they sat next to one another. Like Yin and Yang there was pretty much no separating them.

"Your brother is right darling. I'm fine." Luna smiled.

"I didn't say you were fine mum. You're clearly not. I haven't seen you eat something in three days." Lysander frowned.

Before she could protest George dropped his breakfast.

"You know the rules Luna. If you don't eat then I don't either." He protested, crossing his arms.

"Please eat Granny." Olivia chimed in.

Luna sighed. There was no winning when they all ganged up on her like this. Defeated, Luna took some toast and began to nibble on it slowly. The food hitting her empty stomach made her feel queasy but Luna persisted for the sake of her family. She loved them dearly and if they felt she needed to eat more then she would try and remember to. Her excuse was that caring for George took up all of her energy and focus but the truth was that she was starting to forget that she needed to look after herself as well.

"Luna dear, take everyone outside for a bit while I have a nap?" George asked his wife quietly.

"I should stay with you," Luna took his hand and held it firmly. She hated leaving his side when he was like this.

"You need the fresh air." George shook his head.

"I'll stay." Lysander offered.

Luna bit her lip – a terrible habit she'd picked up around the time the twins were born – but eventually stood up and nodded to Lysander. The look that passed between them made Luna's stance very clear. If anything happened she was to be called instantly. Lysander could be trusted in this matter. He was a gentle soul after all and like Freddie had a soft spot for his mother.

Outside in the garden Natalie, Lysander's wife, was trimming the bushes around the house. When he was well George would help Luna with the task of keeping the garden neat and tidy. After he got ill the outside of their home was left to the power of nature. Now the children took turns in tending to it on their parents' behalf although Luna appeared to have been oblivious of it until that moment.

"Were you good at Herbology in school?" Luna asked conversationally as she admired the handy wand-work that went into tending the garden.

"I got an Outstanding at N.E.W.T. level." Natalie beamed.

Luna and Natalie chatted for a while about plants but quickly Luna found herself in need to sit down. Her head began to pound and the world span about her. With a small _thump_ she sat too quickly down on the steps to the house. Freddie was the first to her side and he held her hand.

"Are you alright?" He asked in a low voice so as not to scare anyone.

"I'm fine." Luna repeated the phrase a couple of the times before she began to cough. She just needed to lie down was all. It had been a rough night sleeping.

"Do you need to go back inside?" Freddie offered a hand to help her up.

"I should go check on your father." Luna nodded.

She accepted his help and soon they were both on their way upstairs. Halfway there Lysander came thundering down and almost collided with them. He looked terrified.

"It happened so quickly. He fell asleep and he was fine then suddenly he broke out into a sweat and started moaning." Lysander babbled.

"Go get bowls of water and some cloths." Luna instructed him, moving past and running up the stairs.

George was still in bed but he was moaning and writhing around. His forehead glistened with sweat and when Luna touched it he was burning up. Her heart raced as she remembered the first time she'd seen George this way. This was a very different kind of fever though.

"Fred!" George called out for his long-departed twin and Luna's heat broke a little. Even now George had nightmares about losing his brother and it hurt Luna that she couldn't protect him from the shadows. Sometimes scars could be just as painful as the initial wound.

"Ssh my love. It's only a dream." She stroked his cheek.

One of George's arms went flying towards her but Freddie caught it just in time. Lysander returned at that moment with a bowl of water levitated before him. Luna plucked it out of the air and dipped a white handkerchief into to cool clear liquid. As she dabbed George's forehead Freddie caught sight of the orange G.W. embroidered on the corner and wondered how long his parents had kept the piece of cloth around considering how the edges had become slightly frayed.

"You boys should leave. It's not fair of you to see your father like this." Luna said sternly, not taking her eyes off of George.

"We're not going anywhere." Freddie said firmly. They were a family and they would stick together through this no matter what.

George was incredibly lucky that Luna and their sons were able to bring his fever down relatively quickly. That said it was still well into the night when his eyes finally fluttered open.

"Mum?" He asked, turning to look at Luna.

She couldn't help it. Luna laughed though tears of relief dripped down her cheeks.

"No, it's Luna." She told him, her voice wavering.

"I know." He chuckled.

Slowly he reached up and caressed her face with the back of his hand. Luna held it against her for a moment before letting him go. She was so tired.

"Mum, we're going to go now. We'll be back first thing to make sure you're both okay." Lorcan told her. Luna blinked and did a double-take. When had he joined them?

"Of course darling," She nodded and then turned to George. "I'll just see them out my love."

"Don't be too long." George nodded. He was always so worried about her but nowhere near asworried as she was for him.

Luna kissed his hand and then walked her sons down the stairs to the fireplace.

"I can stay if you need me to." Freddie offered but Luna declined.

"Your father needs space and rest. You can come by in the morning after you've slept." Luna assured him.

"Make sure you sleep too, okay ma?" Lorcan tried his best not to be forceful but he did worry about her so much. She was blind to how much damage she was doing to herself and it hurt to watch her wither away.

Luna promised and then kissed each of her sons goodbye on the cheek before they floo-ed back to their separate homes. As soon as the last one was gone she made her way back upstairs to where George sat up waiting for her in bed.

"Lay back down." Luna ordered quietly, using her wand to create a chair for her to sit in. No matter how exhausted she was Luna needed to stay awake to ensure her husband didn't relapse into a second fever.

"Luna, lay with me?" George begged, looking at her pleadingly.

Sighing, Luna vanished the chair and took of her slippers. She knew she wouldn't win an argument against him and she really needed the sleep. Using a rubber band she kept on her wrist at all times, Luna tied up her hair into a sloppy bun at the top of her neck.

"Only this once." She told him with a stern look. Sleeping was a luxury she couldn't afford until he was better really but she couldn't deny him any longer.

George nodded and a small smile ghosted onto his face. He shuffled back under the covers and moved over a bit so Luna could get in beside him. It was only a single bed so once Luna had slipped in beside him, George locked his arms around her, to keep her from falling just like they had all those decades ago

"Goodnight George." Luna whispered, nestling down under the covers a bit more. She coughed a little and George rubbed her back soothingly. Then she closed her eyes and fell into the darkness.

When Lysander let himself in to the house the next morning it was clear something was wrong from the outset. From the floor above he could hear someone sobbing. Without a second thought he bound up the stairs and burst into his parents' room to find George sat up in bed, clutching Luna's lifeless body in his arms.


	28. Epilogue

Luna's death was the hardest hit George had taken since the loss of Fred. It was like those initial dark days before she'd come to help him, only this time the darkness consumed years without Luna to show him the light. She had helped George through so much. Not just Fred's death but both of his parents' and Charlie's too. Now there was no one who could reach through the shadows. There was no one to help him cope. The children tried. By God they tried and they kept him alive for three whole years before Freddie realised that George's persistent requests to be given a wand so he could end his own life would never stop. His children didn't need him anymore. There was nothing to anchor him to the world of the living. Freddie's father had lost his peace of mind when Luna passed on.

George was beyond saving.

The idea of letting someone die when they're in great physical pain is extremely controversial.

The idea of letting someone die when they're in great emotional pan is even more so.

It's not a great mystery as to why. Humans value life, no matter what the quality, and clearly fear the unknown. Yes, everyone has their own theory about what happens after death but that uncertainty, the seed of doubt, terrifies all of us, even if we refuse to admit it. Freddie, Lorcan and Lysander were all frightened at the idea of losing their only living parent forever but after a series of painful discussion the three men decided to give in to George's recurring request.

"Mum would never have wanted this." Lysander murmured darkly as the boys traipsed upstairs to their father.

George hadn't left The Rook since Luna's funeral. He could bear to part from her and her spirit filled the house top to bottom. Her laugh echoed among the rafters, her dotty nature was reflected in the décor. Memories clung to every available surface and haunted George who wept in their bed. He thought being close to her would comfort him but in truth it made the pain even harder to bear. George would never admit this though. In fact he didn't need to. It was visible all over his worn face.

Goodbyes are always so terrible, especially when you know you'll never see that person again. So many things get left unsaid. So many people are left with regret. Even the best sons – because to George and Luna their children would always be the best no matter their faults – find themselves wishing they'd done things differently or that they'd done more. The finality of goodbyes mean that it's too late. Time had run out for George and his children. There was no going back, no changing the past. What was done was indeed done and George wouldn't have altered a second of it.

They tried to keep it brief, having delayed George's reunion with Fred and Luna for long enough already. It was so hard though. Could you leave a room knowing that the second you're out the door the person you've turned your back on will kill themselves? Could you imagine hearing your father cast his final spell because the pain of the world was too much? Can you begin to fathom the heartache that all four men felt?

When you truly love someone you try to endure the pain though. And they did.

Freddie, Lorcan and Lysander did try to endure. They gripped one another's hands like the children they had never ceased to be and endured hearing George Fabian Weasley wheeze his final words:

"_Advada Kedavra._"

Luna sat amongst the tall grass of the meadow studying her bare feet as she buried her toes in the damp earth. Golden sunlight filtered down and reflected off of her pale blonde hair. The glow warmed her back and she squirmed slightly, trying to better position herself so it spread across more of her body through the sunflower dress she wore. Patiently she listened to the babbling of a hidden stream and the breathing of her companion.

"How much longer will he be?" Fred asked impatiently.

He threw a juicy red apple up into the air and caught it again before taking a bite. A broom rested on the floor by his stretched out legs and he was dressed in Quidditch gear. Luna didn't regret pulling him from the match he had been playing with The Marauders however. She knew that he wouldn't want to miss this.

"I don't know. Castiel just told me he was arriving today." Luna shrugged. She completely understood Fred's impatience. He had been anticipating this particular arrival far longer than she had and the wait felt like it was killing Luna all over again.

With a thunderous boom the sky above the cracked open and a star fell to the ground. Instantly Fred and Luna jumped to their feet and raced over to where it fell. Lying unconscious on the ground was George, young as he was when Luna moved in with him and possessing both ears. Luna laughed and dropped to her knees, caressing his lineless face. Fred crouched down and grinned as George's eyes opened.

"It's about time you joined us."


	29. Bonus Scene 1 - A Not So Merry Christmas

**I know it's incredibly late but here is the first of three bonus scenes I promised you before the summer.**

**Warning: Severe OOC-ness but I maintain that even the nicest of people are sometimes wrong in the way that they act.**

Christmas with the Weasleys was always a large affair. The third living generation of the Weasley-Potter clan had seemed to just explode in numbers around the time of Luna and George's wedding so The Burrow was jam packed with adults and children alike all having a very merry Christmas. Or at least they should have been.

Luna sat in an armchair in the corner of the living room helping Lysander on with his Christmas jumper whilst George did the same for Lorcan. The twins were both five now and Freddie was nearing his seventh birthday. As she did this Luna watched Molly do a round of the room, handing out treats to the children. Conveniently she skipped past Luna and George as they were busy but not Percy and his oldest daughter Molly who were occupied in the same way. Passing it off as a mistake Luna returned her full attention to Lysander whose blonde head had just poked through the top of his jumper.

"It's too tight and _itchy_." He whined, scratching his arms.

"You don't have to wear it for long, okay? We can fix it when we go home." Luna promised. To her left Lorcan was complaining just like his brother.

"Freddie darling," Luna beckoned her eldest over. "How's your jumper?"

"It's nice and warm and it fits!" Freddie grinned, doing a spin just for show.

Again Luna frowned but she didn't say a word, she just ushered the boys off to play with their cousins. George leant back and put his arm around Luna which made her instantly relax. Now everything had settled down life with George was just as she'd always imagined it to be. There was always something happening but the big drama was long in the past. Luna was so grateful for everything she had and prayed every night that nothing would change.

"Look mum! Extra presents from Grandmama and Pop-pop!" Freddie showed her the child-sized broom he'd been gifted.

"Mum, you shouldn't have." Luna heard George say but she wasn't really listening.

Her gaze was fixed on the twins who were unwrapping their extra gifts. Her heart plummeted when it was revealed that each of her boys had been given a handful of chocolate frogs each. Luna looked around the room at the other presents Molly had dished out. Victoire had a beautiful silver witch's hat, James had a broom like Freddie and Molly had a golden charm bracelet.

This wasn't the first time Molly had treated the twins differently. Since they were born she'd never volunteered to look after them, wouldn't play with them like she'd always done for Freddie. Part of Luna understood. It was a sensitive subject and Molly had never really approved after to whole Rolf ordeal but enough was enough. It wasn't fair to treat the boys that way, especially now they were old enough to start remembering. No one else treated the twins any differently to Freddie. Molly had no right to either.

"George, can I have a word please?" Luna asked in a strained innocent tone to let her husband know the severity of the situation. She hated being obvious and so blatantly hiding something but Luna was at the end of her tether.

The look in George's eyes let Luna know that he had noticed too which was a relief to Luna. She hated the idea of upsetting him because he thought she was out of line but at the end of the day that didn't matter. She was a mother and her children came first. Luna would not simply sit by in silence and neither would George.

"Mum, could you come too please?" He asked, placing a gentle hand on Molly's arm.

Slightly confused, Mrs Weasley followed them into the empty kitchen. Luna invited Molly to sit next to her at the large dining table whilst George leant on the back of his wife's chair. Tentatively Molly sat and scooted her chair at an angle as Luna had so that they were facing one another.

"We need to talk to you about the boys." Luna began kindly enough. It was hard to keep calm because her babies weren't being treated right but she knew that hostility and accusations would get her nowhere.

At Luna's words Molly's heart sank. She folded her arms and sat down in one of the wooden chairs around the table. Luna and George exchanged looks, trying to figure out what exactly what was running through the older woman's head. Neither had any idea though so George decided to proceed with caution.

"Mum, you know that Lorcan and Lysander are just as much my sons as Freddie is, don't you?" George began slowly.

Mrs Weasley pursed her lips and fidgeted slightly. It was clear she had an opinion to express but it wasn't one she thought to share.

"They are my children in the same way that Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, Ron, Harry and I are yours. That means that they're your grandchildren too, even if they look a bit different from the rest of us. I mean, James has black hair and Molly's brunette but you don't treat them any differently. All we ask is for fair treatment of the boys." George carried on.

"I know dear," Molly sighed. The sudden relaxation of her previously hostile pose caught them both off guard a little. "I shouldn't take it out on them. It's not their fault that…"

Molly broke off causing Luna and George to tense up. The thousands of possibilities for Molly's next choice of word whizzed through their minds, each worse than the one before. Mrs Weasley never finished what she was going to say though for at that moment Freddie burst through the door with Lorcan and Lysander in tow.

"They tried to jump in the fire again." Freddie frowned down at the squirming toddlers.

"We want to go hoooooooooooome." The twins whined in unison.

"Don't worry darlings. We're just about to leave." Luna said icily.

"What? NO!" Freddie sulked.

Luna walked around George and took her sons back into the living room to say goodbye and to collect their things. George watched them go, making sure the door was fully closed before he spoke to him mother again.

"It's not her fault. What happened was not her fault and it's not theirs either," he gritted his teeth to keep his tone somewhat calm. "If you keep treating my family like this we won't come round anymore. You've already lost one son. Don't make it two."

Mrs Weasley jumped a little at the clear threat.

"You listen here-"

"No mum. I'm an adult now. I make my own decisions and protect my own family. You would do the same if you were in my position. Now I'm going home. We'll talk in the morning." George cut her off.

He didn't bother to stick around for the look of shock on his mother's face. Threatening his mother was not something he particularly wanted to do but there were children involved. They were his sons and he couldn't let them be treated badly for something that wasn't their fault. It just wasn't going to happen on his watch.

In the living room Luna was making false excuses to everyone for their sudden yet early departure.

"I'll send you an owl in the week." She promised Fleur with a steady smile. The boys were already in her arms and she was backing towards the fire place.

"See you later man." Harry was the first to clap George on the shoulder to say goodbye.

"Yeah. Merry Christmas Harry." George replied absentmindedly, grabbing Freddie's hand.

"Bye everyone!" Freddie waved as he and his father headed over to the fireplace.

There was a chorus of goodbyes returned and that was it. George couldn't stand to be there a second longer. Making sure his grip on his son was tight, George threw some Floo powder in the fireplace and followed his wife home.


End file.
